State ex rel. Arizona Department of Revenue v. Care Construction Corp.

802 P.2d 445, 166 Ariz. 294, 75 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 39, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 424
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 6, 1990
DocketNo. 1 CA-TX 90-001
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 802 P.2d 445 (State ex rel. Arizona Department of Revenue v. Care Construction Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Arizona Department of Revenue v. Care Construction Corp., 802 P.2d 445, 166 Ariz. 294, 75 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 39, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 424 (Ark. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

GERBER, Judge.

Care Construction Corporation (Care Construction) appeals from summary judgment awarding $255,023.80 to the Arizona Department of Revenue • (Department) based on a “jeopardy assessment” issued against Care Construction pursuant to A.R.S. § 42-120.

Care Construction contends the tax court erred in finding no triable issue of fact about whether collection of the assessment would be jeopardized by delay. Care Construction also urges that the judgment must be reversed because the failure of A.R.S. § 42-122 to set a time limit for a hearing on a contested assessment violates procedural due process. Finally, Care Construction contends that due process was violated because it had no opportunity for a hearing on the merits before judgment was entered in favor of the Department.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Care Construction is an Ohio corporation that began doing business in Arizona in 1984. On August 10, 1985, Care Construction’s authority to do business in Arizona was revoked for failure to file an annual report with the Corporation Commission. Nonetheless it continued to do business in Arizona through mid-1987. Care Construction filed no transaction privilege tax reports with the Department. Following an audit by the Department, Care Construction was assessed transaction privilege taxes, penalties and interest totalling $233,064.73.

Care Construction received notice of the assessment on October 13, 1987. Initially it had until November 27, 1987, to file a petition with the Department for a hearing, correction or redetermination of the assessment. In response to successive requests by Care Construction, the Department eventually extended the deadline to January 27, 1988.

On January 12, 1988, Revenue Enforcement Officer Charles Graham sent Field Enforcement Administrator Frank Medina an internal memorandum that stated the assessment should be treated as in jeopardy.

On the same date, the Department mailed Care Construction a “Notice of Jeopardy Assessment.” Care Construction neither posted a bond or other security nor separately appealed the jeopardy assessment.

On January 27, 1988, Care Construction delivered to the Department a petition for a hearing, correction and redetermination of the original assessment requesting “an informal hearing ... prior to a formal hearing.” 1 Thereafter, the Department brought suit in the tax court to reduce its jeopardy assessment to judgment. The Department moved for summary judgment which the tax court granted.

Although the tax court found the Department’s failure to set a hearing on the original assessment “most egregious,” it rejected Care Construction’s contention that A.R.S. § 42-122 violated due process standards by failing to provide for a hearing within a specified period of time. The tax court found the circumstances of Care Construction’s administrative appeal to the Department immaterial to whether the Department was entitled to judgment on its jeopardy assessment. The court noted that Care Construction failed to stay collection of the jeopardy assessment by filing a bond or other security pursuant to A.R.S. § 42-120(B).

The tax court found no fact issue about whether collection of the assessment would be jeopardized by delay. The tax court denied Care Construction’s motion for new trial and entered a formal judgment corresponding to its rulings. Care Construction [297]*297timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-2101(B) and (F)(1).

DID THE RECORD BEFORE THE TAX COURT REVEAL A MATERIAL ISSUE OF FACT CONCERNING WHETHER COLLECTION OF THE ASSESSMENT WOULD BE JEOPARDIZED BY DELAY?

Care Construction contends the tax court erred in granting summary judgment on the jeopardy assessment because of a triable issue of fact about whether collection of the assessment would be jeopardized by delay. We disagree.

A.R.S. § 42-120(D)(l) provides:

In any proceeding brought to enforce payment of taxes made due and payable by this section:
(1) The belief of the department under subsection A of this section, whether or not made after notice to the taxpayer, is for all purposes presumptive evidence that the assessment or collection of the tax or the deficiency was in jeopardy.

In support of its motion for summary judgment, the Department demonstrated that it issued the notice of jeopardy assessment because it had reason to believe collection of the assessment would be jeopardized by delay. The Department also submitted a copy of an internal memorandum indicating its understanding that Care Construction owned no real property or motor vehicles in Arizona, was not registered with the Arizona Corporation Commission, and had done business in Arizona from 1984 until 1987 without a sales tax license.

In its Response to Motion for Summary Judgment, Care Construction made the following assertion:

ADR’s own records establish that factual questions exist as to the issuance of the jeopardy assessment. An ADR examiner working on the Care Construction case indicates in notes dated January 12,1988, that the ADR investigation had failed to yield grounds to authorize the issuance of a jeopardy assessment. These notes, provided by ADR to Care Construction in discovery, create a question of fact pertaining to the jeopardy assessment, which precludes summary judgment at this time.

Care Construction presented no evidence addressing whether collection of the Department’s assessment was in jeopardy. The tax court found nothing in the record that raised a fact issue about whether collection of the tax would be jeopardized by delay.

With its motion for new trial, Care Construction submitted a copy of handwritten notes that stated in part: “1/12/88. Talked to Charlie Graham + Aníbal @ 11:20 —Charlie said he did not find grounds to authorize the issuance of a jeopardy assessment.” Care Construction argued to the tax court that this handwritten note raised a genuine issue of material fact on the jeopardy issue. In denying Care Construction’s motion for new trial, the tax court found its unsupported opinion insufficient to overcome the presumption that the Department’s determination of jeopardy was correct.

We agree with the tax court. The notes Care Construction submitted with its motion for new trial do not appear to be newly discovered evidence. Nor do they give rise to a triable issue of fact. Under A.R.S. § 42-120 the true operative issue was whether, at the time of the jeopardy assessment, collection of the assessment was believed to be in jeopardy. The Department presented evidence supporting its conclusion that collection was in jeopardy. It thereby raised the presumption in its favor provided by A.R.S.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Pope v. Phoenix
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
802 P.2d 445, 166 Ariz. 294, 75 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 39, 1990 Ariz. App. LEXIS 424, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-arizona-department-of-revenue-v-care-construction-corp-arizctapp-1990.