Revenue Waives Penalty for Untimely Utility Receipts Payment

Taxpayer made first, second, and fourth quarterly estimated tax payments as required under IC § 6-2.3-6-1(a)… Taxpayer's third quarterly payment was untimely and Taxpayer was assessed a ten-percent penalty pursuant to IC § 6-2.3-6-1(f) which states in part that, "The penalty prescribed by IC 6-8.1-10-2.1(b) shall be assessed by the department on taxpayers failing to make payments as required in subsection (b) or (d)."
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Taxpayer asks that the Department exercise its discretion to abate the consequent penalty pursuant to IC § 6-8.1-10-2.1(d) as follows:  If a person subject to the penalty imposed under this section can show that the failure to file a return, pay the full amount of tax shown on the person's return, timely remit tax held in trust, or pay the deficiency determined by the department was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, the department shall waive the penalty.

Departmental regulation 45 IAC 15-11-2(c) requires that in order to establish "reasonable cause," the taxpayer must demonstrate that it "exercised ordinary business care and prudence in carrying out or failing to carry out a duty giving rise to the penalty imposed...."

Based upon the particular facts and circumstances attendant upon this Taxpayer, the Department is prepared to agree that Taxpayer has established reasonable cause sufficient to warrant abating the ten-percent penalty.

http://www.in.gov/legislative/iac/20120530-IR-045120240NRA.xml.html