Chapter 317 Oregon Laws 2003

AN ACT

SB 230

Relating to tax penalties; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 308.030 and 308.295.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 308.030 is amended to read:

308.030. (1) Each person, company, corporation or association required by ORS 308.505 to 308.665 or 308.805 to 308.820 to file a statement with the Department of Revenue, who or which has not filed a statement within the time fixed for filing a statement or as extended, is delinquent.

(2) A delinquent taxpayer is subject to a penalty of $10 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) of assessed value of the property as placed on the assessment roll of the department for the year of delinquency; except that for a delinquent taxpayer required to file a statement under ORS 308.805 to 308.820, the penalty shall be based upon the assessed value of such property of the taxpayer as would have been placed upon the assessment roll of the department if such property were subject to ad valorem taxation. [No] The penalty [shall] may not be less than $10 or more than $5,000.

(3) The department shall send any delinquent taxpayer against whom a penalty is imposed under this section a notice of its intention to impose the penalty, by mailing a notice to the taxpayer at the last-known address shown on the records of the department. The notice shall contain the amount of the penalty and the basis for its imposition.

(4)(a) If a delinquency penalty is imposed under this section, the Director of the Department of Revenue, upon application filed by the taxpayer with the department during the period in which the director reviews the assessment roll of the department for the year of delinquency, may establish by rule instances in which the department may waive or reduce the penalty [upon a showing that by reason of good and sufficient cause, the filing of the statement could not be made as otherwise required by law]. [The determination of the director] A determination to waive or reduce a penalty shall be final, and no appeal may be taken from the determination.

(b) Rules adopted under this subsection shall be based on the department’s finding that:

(A) Good and sufficient cause exists for the actions of the taxpayer that resulted in the imposition of a penalty;

(B) The actions of the taxpayer that resulted in the imposition of a penalty constitute a first-time offense on the part of the taxpayer; or

(C) The action of the department to waive or reduce the penalty enhances the long-term effectiveness or efficiency of the voluntary tax compliance system.

(5) Upon completion of the review of the assessment roll of the department by the director, the department shall note on the assessment roll the name of each delinquent taxpayer, if not otherwise on the roll, and after the name the dollar amount of the penalty imposed under this section [which] that was not waived or reduced by the director under subsection (4) of this section. The amount of penalty shall constitute a lien as of July 1 of the year of imposition on all real and personal property of the delinquent taxpayer in the state.

(6) Any penalty collected under this section shall be deposited in the unsegregated tax collections account of the counties in which the property of the taxpayer is located.

SECTION 2. ORS 308.295 is amended to read:

308.295. (1) Each person, firm, corporation or association required by ORS 308.290 to file a return, other than a return reporting only taxable personal property, who or which has not filed a return within the time fixed in ORS 308.290 or as extended, is delinquent.

(2) A delinquent taxpayer, except a taxpayer described in subsection (3) of this section, is subject to a penalty of $1 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) of assessed value of the property as determined under ORS 308.146, but [such] the penalty [shall] may not be less than $10 or more than $250.

(3) A delinquent taxpayer required by ORS 308.290 to file a return reporting principal or secondary industrial property, as defined in ORS 306.126, is subject to a penalty of $10 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) of assessed value of the property as determined under ORS 308.146, but the penalty may not be less than $10 or more than $5,000.

[(3)] (4) If a delinquency penalty provided in this section is imposed, the tax statement for the year in which the penalty is imposed shall reflect the amount of the penalty and shall constitute notice to the taxpayer.

[(4)] (5) Unless the penalty is the subject of an appeal under ORS 311.223, the county board of property tax appeals may, upon application of the taxpayer, waive the liability for all or a portion of the penalty upon a proper showing of good and sufficient cause. However, an application made under this subsection shall not be considered by the board unless filed timely and in the same manner as an appeal under ORS 309.100. There shall be no appeal from the determination of the board under this subsection.

[(5)] (6) If the board waives all or a portion of a penalty already imposed and entered on the roll, the person in charge of the roll shall cancel the waived penalty and enter the cancellation on the roll as an error correction under ORS 311.205 and, if the waived penalty has been paid, it shall be refunded without interest under ORS 311.806.

SECTION 3. The amendments to ORS 308.030 and 308.295 by sections 1 and 2 of this 2003 Act apply to statements and returns due on or after the effective date of this 2003 Act and to applications for relief from delinquency penalties that are filed with the Department of Revenue on or after the effective date of this 2003 Act.

SECTION 4. Section 5 of this 2003 Act is added to and made a part of ORS chapter 305.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of the tax laws of this state that are administered by the Department of Revenue, the department may adopt rules setting forth circumstances or conditions under which a penalty that otherwise would be imposed under those tax laws is not imposed.

Approved by the Governor June 12, 2003

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 12, 2003

Effective date January 1, 2004

__________