To support this contention, the
Bosamias rely on the Indiana Supreme Court decision in Wayne County Property
Tax Assessment Board of Appeals v. United Ancient Order of Druids-Grove, 847 N.E.2d 924 (Ind. 2006) for
the proposition that an Indiana Board invoice provides adequate notice if it
contains a statement that the record is complete along with either the
completed record or a specific date on which the record can be picked up.
…
Here, however,
the … statement in the Bosamias’ invoice that the record “has been prepared”
would by itself be sufficient notice under Druids to trigger the thirty day
filing period. See Druids, 847 N.E.2d at 929. Nonetheless, the invoice goes
even further by stating 1) how the Bosamias could obtain the record (payment of
the invoice) and 2) that their receipt of the invoice triggered their thirty
days to file the record. Accordingly, the Court finds the Bosamias’ invoice
provided sufficient notice under Tax Court Rule 3(E).
In the
alternative, the Bosamias contend that their failure to timely file the record
should be excused under Trial Rule 6(B)(2) as
their failure was the result of “excusable neglect.” Again, the Court disagrees.
…
In
this case, the Bosamias did not file the record within thirty days after
receiving the Indiana Board’s invoice. In fact, more than three weeks passed
before they even learned of Harsukh’s mother’s illness. Furthermore, after
Harsukh left the country to visit his sick mother, his wife had nearly another
week to file the record with the Court before the October 11 filing deadline,
but she did not do so. The Court sympathizes with the unfortunate circumstances
that befell the Bosamias; however, the failure to timely file was not because
of Harsukh’s mother’s illness, but was the result of their own inaction. Given
these facts and circumstances, the Court cannot employ its discretion to enlarge
the Bosamias’ time to file record
