Indiana’s personal property tax
system is a self-assessment system. Every person, including any firm, company,
partnership, association, corporation, fiduciary, or individual owning,
holding, possessing, or controlling personal property with a tax situs in
Indiana on March 1 of a year must file a personal property tax return on or
before May 15 of that year unless the person obtains an extension of time. Ind.
Code § 6-1.1-3-7; 50 IAC 4.2-2-2.
Additional documentation must be
attached to the return to claim a tax abatement. Specifically, to obtain a
deduction, a taxpayer must file a verified deduction schedule with a
timely-filed personal property return. Ind. Code § 6-1.1-12.1-5.4. The statute
is clear that a timely-filed return is a statutory prerequisite for claiming
the tax abatement. See Id. (stating the deduction is applied in the
amount claimed in a certified schedule that a person files with: (1) a timely
personal property return under IC 6-1.1-3-7(a) or IC 6-1.1-3-7(b)).
Emphasis added.
Indiana statutes are clear that
the personal property return and accompanying abatement filing must be timely
for a taxpayer to receive the abatement. Specifically, Indiana Code section
6-1.1-12.1-5.4 indicates that a person who desires to obtain the deduction must
file a verified deduction schedule with the person’s timely filed personal
property return. Id. Indiana Code section 6-1.1-1-7 defines the filing
date as May 15. Further, Forms 103-EL and 103-ERA, both abatement forms,
both state that they must be submitted with a timely-filed Form 103 to receive
the deduction. Finally, a taxpayer can only amend a timely-filed
personal property return.
In this case, the parties agree
that neither the verified deduction schedule nor the underlying personal
property return were timely filed. Thus, in asking that the Board grant its tax
abatement, Wayne is, in effect, asking the Board to waive the filing deadlines.
Legal precedent suggests that the
Board has jurisdiction and authority to review the untimely filing of a
Certified Deduction Application and underlying Business Tangible Personal
Property Return. In State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs. v.
New Energy Co.,
585 N.E.2d 38 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992), the issue before the Court was whether “the
Board had the authority to consider New Energy’s application for deduction
notwithstanding the untimely filing.” Id. at 39.7 In resolving
this issue, the Court of Appeals found that the Board had jurisdiction and
authority to consider an untimely filed return.
In Dalton Foundries v. State Bd. of Tax Comm’rs., 653 N.E.2d 548
(Ind. Tax Ct. 1995), the issue before the Indiana Tax Court was an untimely
filed Resource Recovery System (“RRS”) property tax deduction. The Court found
that the assessor had the authority and must consider an untimely application,
but did not go so far as to hold that the assessor must grant the deduction.
More recently, in Graybar
Elec. Co. v. State Bd. of Tax Commrs., 723 N.E.2d 491 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2001),
the Tax Court interpreted New Energy to mean that the Board may not deny
the abatement at issue solely because it was not timely filed.
However, it appears the General
Assembly has vested in the designating body, in this case the Town of Markle,
the discretion to waive non-compliance through resolution. Specifically,
Indiana Code section 6-1.1-12.1-11.3 states that a designating body may by resolution
waive non-compliance, which includes the failure to timely file a deduction application
pursuant to Indiana Code section 6-1.1-12.1-5.4. See also Ind. Code §
6-1.1-12.1-9.5; 50 IAC 4.2-11.1-7(a)(5). Thus, because the General Assembly
specifically vested such authority in the Town of Markle, the Board does not
have the authority to waive the late filing.
The Board is not unsympathetic to
Wayne, however, Wayne failed to direct the Board’s attention to any authority
for the proposition that it can waive or ignore the statutory filing deadlines
in light of Indiana Code sections 6-1.1-12.1-11.3 and 9.5. Wayne did not timely
file its verified deduction schedule or personal property return, and the
Assessor correctly denied its tax abatement for that reason.
With respect to Wayne’s amended
return, Wayne is not eligible to file an amended return in this case because
its original return was not timely filed. In order to file an amended return,
the initial return on which the amended return is based, must be timely filed. Specifically,
Indiana Code section 6-1.1-3-7.5(a) provides that a taxpayer may amend its “original
personal property return” up to 12 months after that return’s due date, and 50 IAC
4.2-1-1.1(k) defines an “original personal property return” as a return filed
with the proper assessing official by May 15 or, if an extension is granted,
the extended filing date. Thus, the statute lacks any provision to amend a
late-filed return.
http://www.in.gov/ibtr/2536.htm
