Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15… is the most common avenue for appeal
and the Board has promulgated two different forms for prosecuting such an
appeal—Form 131 for appeals from assessment determinations, and Form 132, for
appeals from exemption determinations.
Second, Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-12 allows a taxpayer to appeal
to the Board from the decision of a county PTABOA where the taxpayer alleges
certain narrowly defined errors, including that its “taxes, as a matter of law,
were illegal,” and that “through an error of omission by any state or county
officer, the taxpayer was not given an exemption permitted by law.” I.C. §
6-1.1-15-12(a)(6) and (a)(8)(C); I.C. § 6-1.1-15-12(d) and (e). The form used
for this avenue is a Form 133 Petition for Correction of an Error.
Although GCH apparently has pursued both avenues, only its
Form 132 petitions are before the Board at this point. Thus, to invoke the
Board’s authority, GCH needed to comply with Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-3. The
Assessor argues that GCH has not done so because that statute contemplates a
taxpayer appealing from a county PTABOA’s decision and the PTABOA did not issue
a Form 120 determination. Of course, that is because GCH did not apply for an
exemption. While the Board harbors significant doubt about GCH’s claim that it
did not need to apply for the particular exemption(s) it seeks, the statute
governing exemption procedures does list various types of exemptions that, once
granted, a taxpayer need not reapply for. A taxpayer at least arguably has some
avenue to appeal directly to the Board when an assessor or other assessing
official unilaterally takes away that exemption even if the county PTABOA does
not issue a Form 120 determination.
The Board need not decide whether filing a Form 132 petition
is such an avenue. Even if one reads Indiana Code § 6-1.1-15-3 broadly enough
to permit such an appeal, the taxpayer would still have to file its petition
within 45 days of being given notice that its exemption has been removed. GCH,
however, did not send either Form 132 petition to the Board until at least
April 19, 2011—more than four months after GCH received the 2008 pay 2009 tax
bill notifying GCH that it was no longer receiving an exemption. Although GCH
sent one Form 132 petition to the Assessor on or about March 17, 2007, that was
still more than three months after GCH was given notice.
The Board hastens to add that it decides only that it lacks
authority to address GCH’s Form 132 petitions for the 2008 and 2009 assessment
years. At the time of the hearing, no determination had been made on GCH’s Form
133 petition. It may be that the PTABOA and possibly the Board will have the
occasion to address the merits of GCH’s claims—including whether GCH was substantively
entitled to an exemption and, if so, whether GCH waived that exemption by
failing to timely apply for it—in the context of the Form 133 petition. That,
however, is a question for another day.
http://www.in.gov/ibtr/files/GCH_LLC_71-018-09-2-8-00004.pdf
