Heico Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation

20 N.J. Tax 106
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedApril 24, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 20 N.J. Tax 106 (Heico Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heico Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation, 20 N.J. Tax 106 (N.J. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

BIANCO, J.T.C.

This is the court’s determination with respect to plaintiffs motion for reconsideration of the court’s order of September 28, 2001, dismissing the complaint for lack of jurisdiction due to plaintiffs failure to timely file the complaint.

Plaintiff Heico Corporation (“Heico”) was incorporated in New Jersey in or about June 1985. Carol E. Costello is Heico’s President, John P. Costello is its Vice-President, and James E. Heims is its Secretary. Defendant Director, Division of Taxation (the “Director”) conducted an audit of Heico and determined that Corporation Business Tax for 1993 through 1996, and Sales and Use Tax for 1991 through 1997, were owed to the State. On December 22, 1998, the Director sent a Notice of Assessment to Heico indicating that Heico owed $120,775.73 including penalties and interest. On March 3, 1999, Heico filed a protest of the Notice of Assessment. A conference was held between Heico and the Director on October 17, 2000. The Director’s Final Determination letter, dated April 2, 2001, indicates that Heico owed a revised amount of $46,618.00 plus interest. Duplicate originals of the Final Determination letter were mailed by the Director on April 2, 2001 to Heico, c/o John P. and Carol E. Costello, and to Joseph Cipolla, CPA, of Tax Help Associates, an accountant who [109]*109assisted Heico in its tax matters with the Director. Both letters were sent by certified mail, return receipt requested. The return receipts indicate that the addressees received and accepted their letters on April 9, 2001 and April 4, 2001, respectively.

The Final Determination letter notified Heico that it had ninety days from the date of the letter (which was the same as the date of mailing) to appeal to the Tax Court of New Jersey. The ninetieth day from the date of the letter was July 1, 2001. Since that date was a Sunday, R. 1:3-1 extended Heico’s filing date to Monday July 2, 2001 1 to file an appeal. Certified mail receipts indicate that Heico mailed two items to the Tax Court on June 30, 2001.2 Return receipts indicate that those two items were received at the State of New Jersey Capitol Post Office on two different dates: one on July 2, 2001 and the other on July 3, 2001. Heieo’s complaint, State Tax Information Schedule, and the Proof of Service were contemporaneously stamped received by the Tax Court on July 3, 2001 at 2:39 p.m. (i.e. the ninety-second day from the date the Final Determination letter was mailed). The Proof of Service, however, states that a copy of the complaint was served upon the Director on July 2, 2001. The complaint is dated June 29, 2001, but the Proof of Service is dated July 2, 2001.3 Heico’s papers are not signed by an attorney but rather by John P. Costello on behalf of the corporation.

[110]*110By way of an Acknowledgment Notice dated July 13, 2001, the Tax Court advised Heico, among other things, that the filing date was July 3, 20014 and that the corporation needed to be represented by a New Jersey attorney pursuant to R. l:21-l(e). By copy of a letter to the Administrator of the Tax Court dated August 10, 2001, Deputy Attorney General Martin L. Wheelright again advised Heico that it needed to be represented by an attorney pursuant to R. 1:21-1© or its complaint may be subject to dismissal. On August 31, 2001, the Director moved to dismiss Heico’s complaint on two grounds: (1) the complaint was filed out of time; and (2) Heico was not represented by an attorney in accordance with R. 1:21 — 1(c).

The motion was returnable on September 28, 2001. No opposition papers were received from Heico. On September 26, 2001, the court received a letter via facsimile from Heico’s accountant Joseph D. Cipolla requesting an adjournment. On the motion return date, the court scheduled a telephone conference on the record between Mindy H. Gensler, D.A.G. for the Director and John P. Costello, Vice-President of Heico to first consider the adjournment request, and then, if no adjournment was granted, to consider the motion. At the hearing, Mr. Costello requested more time to hire an attorney. The court denied the adjournment based on a finding that Heico had been advised on three occasions that it needed to be represented by an attorney (July 13, August 10, and August 31, 2001) and failed to secure one.5 The court then treated the motion as uncontested and proceeded to make a determination on the merits. For substantially the reasons set forth in the Director’s brief, the court dismissed the complaint finding that it was filed out. of time, and, therefore, the Tax Court [111]*111lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The court then determined that the issue of Heico’s failure to be represented by an attorney was moot noting that Heico could have cured the defect for failure to hire counsel, but could not cure the defect with regard to the jurisdictional requirements.

On October 9, 2001, Heico, acting through its attorneys, moved for reconsideration, requesting an order for rehearing and vacating the court’s September 28, 2001 Order dismissing the complaint. Oral argument was heard on November 15, 2001.

I.

Heico has asked this court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction due to untimely filing. The court finds that reconsideration is warranted.

“The standards for reconsideration are substantially harder to meet than are those for reversal of a judgment on appeal.” Dantzler v. Director, Div. of Taxation, 18 N.J.Tax, 507, 508 (Tax 1999). R. 8:10 provides for “NEW TRIALS; AMENDMENT OF FINDINGS OR JUDGMENTS.” This rule provides for the application of R. 1:7-4, R. 4:49-1 and R. 4:49-2 to matters decided by the Tax Court. R. 4:49-2 permits the court to reconsider its decisions on matters that have been submitted for resolution by the court. The courts have held that, “[rjeconsideration is a matter within the sound discretion of the Court, to be exercised in the interest of justice.” Cummings v. Bahr, 295 N.J.Super. 374, 384, 685 A.2d 60 (App.Div.1996) (citing D’Atria v. D'Atria, 242 N.J.Super. 392, 401, 576 A.2d 957 (Ch.Div.1990)). Moreover,

[Reconsideration should be utilized only for those cases which fall into that narrow corridor in which either 1) the Court has expressed its decision based upon a palpably incorrect or irrational basis, or 2) it is obvious that the Court either did not consider, or failed to appreciate the significance of probative, competent evidence....
[Cummings, supra at 384, 685 A.2d 60 (citations omitted).]

In this case, Heico appeared pro se on the return date of the Director’s motion to dismiss the complaint. Since Heico is a corporation, the court determined that its appearance pro se was [112]*112contrary to R. 1:21 — 1(c)6 that requires corporations to appeal' only through an attorney. The motion was, therefore, treated as uneontested.

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20 N.J. Tax 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heico-corp-v-director-division-of-taxation-njtaxct-2002.