On July 26, 2006, the Department assessed the Taxpayer for gross receipts tax and interest for the tax periods from January 31, 2002 through June 30, 2005. No penalty was assessed. On August 25, 2006, the Taxpayer filed a protest to the assessment. On June 9, 2015, the Administrative Hearings Office learned of the protest. On June 10, 2015, a notice of hearing was issued. Both parties stipulated to the relevant facts at the hearing, and explained that they had been communicating regularly since the request for hearing was made. The Taxpayer was entitled to deduct part of its gross receipts, and some items included in the assessment were determined not to be gross receipts. The final proposed numbers for the assessment were available on the date of the hearing. The Taxpayer objected to the hearing since it was conducted in 2015 and the protest was filed in 2006. The Taxpayer argued that some consideration for the significant delay should be given and the interest should be reduced. In 2006, there was not a strict statutory deadline of time frame within which a hearing must be held. There is also no statutory provision or regulatory authority for the Hearing Officer to dismiss a previously filed protest as a result of any delay. Interest was properly assessed and there is no statutory provision that allows for a reduction of interest when a hearing is significantly delayed. The parties stipulated that certain amounts of the original assessment should be reduced, so that portion of the assessment was ordered to be abated.
The Taxpayer’s protest was granted in part and denied in part.