Stompbox Music Co. v. Washington County Assessor

• Court: Oregon Tax Court
• Decided: March 13, 2019
• Docket: TC-MD 180377N
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE OREGON TAX COURT MAGISTRATE DIVISION Property Tax

STOMPBOX MUSIC COMPANY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) TC-MD 180377N ) v. ) ) WASHINGTON COUNTY ASSESSOR, ) ) Defendant. ) DECISION

Plaintiff appealed Defendant’s assessment of penalties stemming from a notice for

omitted personal property, dated September 13, 2018, for the 2012-13 through 2016-17 tax

years. During a case management conference held on January 22, 2019, the parties asked that

the court enter a decision based solely on the parties’ pleadings. Defendant said that it does not

oppose Plaintiff’s request for relief and does not contest any of the factual allegations in

Plaintiff’s Complaint. Plaintiff declined to supplement its Complaint with any further evidence

or argument. Defendant disputes whether Plaintiff is entitled to a cost award for the court’s

filing fee. Defendant filed an Objection to Plaintiff’s Request for a Filing Fee on February 6,

2019.

A. Penalty Waiver

Plaintiff filed its Complaint on November 30, 2018, requesting a waiver of penalties and

interest imposed on property identified as Account P2130052. (Compl at 3.) In its Complaint,

Plaintiff stated that the person responsible for filing personal property tax returns (Plaintiff’s

agent) was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2014 and later died of the disease in 2017. (Id. at 2.)

Plaintiff added that the agent experienced the “onset symptoms in 2013 and as a result did not

have the capacity to prepare correct documents for the personal property tax division * * *.”

DECISION TC-MD 180377N 1 (Id.) After discovering the error, the agent’s surviving spouse acted quickly to correct the error.

(Id.)

Personal property tax returns must be filed each year by March 15. ORS 308.290(1)(a).1

Taxpayers who file returns after March 15, but on or before June 1, are subject to a five percent

penalty. ORS 308.296(2). Taxpayers who file after June 1, but on or before August 1, are

subject to a 25 percent penalty. ORS 305.296(3). Taxpayers who file after August 1 or do not

file entirely are subject to a 50 percent penalty. ORS 308.296(4). A person aggrieved by a

penalty for failure to file a personal property tax return may appeal to this court. ORS

311.223(4). The court is authorized under ORS 305.422 to waive penalties for “good and

sufficient cause.”2

The court has adopted the definition of “good and sufficient cause” found in ORS

305.288. Spegel v. Washington County Assessor, TC-MD 050966B, 2006 WL 1880283 at *2

(Or Tax M Div July 6, 2006). “Good and sufficient cause” means “an extraordinary

circumstance that is beyond the control of the taxpayer, or the taxpayer’s agent or representative,

and that causes the taxpayer, agent or representative to fail to pursue the statutory right of

appeal” but does not include “inadvertence, oversight, lack of knowledge, hardship or reliance on

misleading information provided by any person except an authorized tax official providing the

relevant information.” ORS 305.288(5). Extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of

taxpayer may include death or serious illness. Kintz v. Washington Cty. Assessor, 17 OTR-MD

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1 The court’s reference to the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) are to 2017. 2 Plaintiff requested waiver of penalties and interest. (Compl at 2.) Defendant’s notice only assessed penalties. (Id. at 3.) ORS 305.422 authorizes the court to waive penalties only.

DECISION TC-MD 180377N 2 200, 203 (2002). However, extraordinary circumstances will not rise to “good and sufficient

cause” unless they cause the taxpayer to miss the filing deadline. Hoggard v. Clackamas County

Assessor, TC-MD 170389G, 2018 WL 3409632 at *2 (Or Tax M Div July 12, 2019).

Plaintiff alleges that its agent experienced the onset of symptoms of brain cancer in 2013

and as a result “did not have the capacity to prepare correct documents for the personal property

tax division * * *.” (Compl at 2.) Plaintiff has not alleged any circumstances preventing

Plaintiff from filing a return for the 2012-13 tax year on or before March 15, 2012. The court

finds no good and sufficient cause to waive the penalty for the 2012-13 tax year. The imposition

of the 50 percent penalty for that year is upheld. For the remaining tax years, Plaintiff has

alleged that its agent’s serious illness and death caused the failure to file for the 2013-14 through

2016-17 tax years. Defendant has alleged no facts to the contrary. Under such circumstances,

the court waives the penalty for the 2013-14 through 2016-17 tax years.

B. Costs and Disbursements

The court has discretionary authority to award costs and disbursements, including the

filing fee, to prevailing parties. ORS 305.490(2); Wihtol I v. Dept. of Rev., 21 OTR 260, 267-68

(2013). It cannot be disputed that Plaintiff is the prevailing party in this case—Plaintiff prevailed

on its claims for relief on four out of the five tax years at issue. The court is authorized to award

costs and disbursements to Plaintiff. Defendant argues that Plaintiff should not be awarded its

costs because the county did not have discretion to waive the penalties and interest under

ORS 308.296(8) and only the court may waive penalties under ORS 305.422. (Def’s Objection

at 2.) The court agrees that ORS 308.296(8) provides that the county may only waive penalties

and interest in certain specific scenarios not applicable to the present case. By contrast, the court

has broader authority to waive penalties and interest under ORS 305.422. The fact remains that

DECISION TC-MD 180377N 3 Plaintiff failed to timely file personal property tax returns as required by law. Although the court

finds that Plaintiff had good and sufficient cause for waiving penalties and interest for four of the

tax years, it is Plaintiff’s own failure to act that necessitated the filing of this appeal. The court

finds that Plaintiff’s request for its filing fee should be denied. Now, therefore,

IT IS THE DECISION OF THIS COURT that the late filing penalties shall be waived for

Account P2130052 for the 2013-14 through 2016-17 tax years. The late filing penalty for the

2012-13 tax year is upheld.

IT IS FURTHER DECIDED that Plaintiff’s request for costs and disbursements in

denied.

Dated this day of March 2019.

ALLISON R. BOOMER MAGISTRATE

If you want to appeal this Decision, file a complaint in the Regular Division of the Oregon Tax Court, by mailing to: 1163 State Street, Salem, OR 97301-2563; or by hand delivery to: Fourth Floor, 1241 State Street, Salem, OR.

Your complaint must be submitted within 60 days after the date of this Decision or this Decision cannot be changed. TCR-MD 19 B.

This document was signed by Magistrate Allison R. Boomer and entered on March 13, 2019.

DECISION TC-MD 180377N 4