The Department assessed Taxpayer a negligence penalty because
Taxpayer failed to timely file its returns for tax years 2001, 2002, 2003,
2004, 2005, and 2007. Taxpayer first claimed that it was not "aware of the
need to file form IT-20 until [it] pursued a Certificate of Clearance for
Reinstatement as an Indiana corporation." Taxpayer also asserted that the
penalty "would place [its] business in severe hardship."
IC § 6-8.1-10-2.1(g) provides:
A person who fails to file a return for a listed tax that
shows no tax liability for a taxable year, other than an information return (as
defined in section 6 of this chapter), on or before the due date of the return
shall pay a penalty of ten dollars ($10) for each day that the return is past
due, up to a maximum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
...
In this instance, Taxpayer maintained that it "was
non-active and received no income for the period of 2001-2005." In
addition, to support its protest, Taxpayer submitted copies of its 2011 federal
and Indiana returns and its February 2012 bank statement, asserting that the
penalty "would place [its] business in severe hardship." However,
upon reviewing Taxpayer's documentation, its documentation demonstrates that
Taxpayer was formed to be (and since 2006 has been) in the business of
providing payroll services, which include filing the required federal and state
returns on behalf of its customers. Taxpayer thus should have known that it was
required to file its corporate income tax returns.
As mentioned above, "[i]gnorance of the listed tax
laws, rules and/or regulations is treated as negligence." In the absence
of other sufficient documentation, the Department is not able to agree that
Taxpayer has demonstrated reasonable cause for waiver of negligence penalty.
Thus, Taxpayer's request is respectfully denied.
http://www.in.gov/legislative/iac/20120530-IR-045120225NRA.xml.html
