(a)Except as provided in IC 6-8.1-5-3 and
sections 16 and 17 of this chapter, the department must issue a demand
notice for the payment of a tax and any interest or penalties accrued on
the tax, if a person files a tax return without including full payment of
the tax or if the department, after ruling on a protest, finds that a person
owes the tax before the department issues a tax warrant. The demand
notice must state the following:
(1)That the person has twenty (20) days from the date the
department mails the notice to either pay the amount demanded
or show reasonable cause for not paying the amount demanded.
(2)The statutory authority of the department for the issuance of
a tax warrant.
(3)The earliest date on which a tax warrant may be filed and
recorded.
(4)The statutory authorit
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(a) Except as provided in IC 6-8.1-5-3 and
sections 16 and 17 of this chapter, the department must issue a demand
notice for the payment of a tax and any interest or penalties accrued on
the tax, if a person files a tax return without including full payment of
the tax or if the department, after ruling on a protest, finds that a person
owes the tax before the department issues a tax warrant. The demand
notice must state the following:
(1) That the person has twenty (20) days from the date the
department mails the notice to either pay the amount demanded
or show reasonable cause for not paying the amount demanded.
(2) The statutory authority of the department for the issuance of
a tax warrant.
(3) The earliest date on which a tax warrant may be filed and
recorded.
(4) The statutory authority for the department to levy against a
person's property that is held by a financial institution.
(5) The remedies available to the taxpayer to prevent the filing
and recording of the judgment.
If the department files a tax warrant in more than one (1) county, the
department is not required to issue more than one (1) demand notice.
The department may not issue a demand notice for a liability more than
nine (9) years after the first date the department is permitted to issue a
demand notice under this chapter.
(b) If the person does not pay the amount demanded or show
reasonable cause for not paying the amount demanded within the
twenty (20) day period, the department may issue a tax warrant for the
amount of the tax, interest, penalties, collection fee, sheriff's costs,
clerk's costs, and fees established under section 4(b) of this chapter
when applicable. When the department issues a tax warrant, a
collection fee of ten percent (10%) of the unpaid tax is added to the
total amount due.
(c) When the department issues a tax warrant, it may not file the
warrant with the circuit court clerk of any county in which the person
owns property until at least twenty (20) days after the date the demand
notice was mailed to the taxpayer. If a taxpayer does not own property
in Indiana, or if the department is unable to determine whether the
taxpayer owns property in Indiana, the department may file the tax
warrant with the circuit court clerk of Marion County. The department
may also send the warrant to the sheriff of any county in which the
person owns property and direct the sheriff to file the warrant with the
circuit court clerk:
(1) at least twenty (20) days after the date the demand notice was
mailed to the taxpayer; and
(2) no later than five (5) days after the date the department issues
the warrant.
(d) When the circuit court clerk receives a tax warrant from the
department or the sheriff, the clerk shall record the warrant by making
an entry in the judgment debtor's column of the judgment record,
listing the following:
(1) The name of the person owing the tax.
(2) The amount of the tax, interest, penalties, collection fee,
sheriff's costs, clerk's costs, and fees established under section
4(b) of this chapter when applicable.
(3) The date the warrant was filed with the clerk.
(e) When the entry is made, the total amount of the tax warrant
becomes a judgment against the person owing the tax. The judgment
creates a lien in favor of the state that attaches to all the person's
interest in any:
(1) chose in action in the county; and
(2) real or personal property in the county;
excepting only negotiable instruments not yet due. The department may
domesticate a valid tax warrant in one (1) or more other states or
countries, or in the political subunits of other states or countries, in the
manner that any other civil judgment may be domesticated in that
jurisdiction. The department shall be permitted all rights and remedies
permitted in a jurisdiction in which a judgment is domesticated, even
if the rights or remedies would not be permitted under Indiana law.
(f) The following apply to a judgment on a tax warrant:
(1) A judgment on a tax warrant must be filed in at least one (1)
Indiana county not later than ten (10) years after the first date on
which a demand notice could be issued under this chapter.
(2) Except as provided in subdivision (3), if a judgment on a tax
warrant is entered in at least one (1) Indiana county, the
department may file an additional tax warrant in one (1) or more
Indiana counties during the period in which one (1) or more tax
warrants are valid under this section.
(3) A judgment obtained under this section is valid for ten (10)
years from the date the judgment is filed. The department may
renew the judgment for additional ten (10) year periods by filing
an alias tax warrant with the circuit court clerk of the county in
which the judgment previously existed. An amended tax warrant
under this section or section 4 of this chapter shall not constitute
an alias tax warrant. The failure to renew a tax warrant in a
particular county shall preclude the issuance of a new tax warrant
under subdivision (2).
(4) If the department does not:
(A) issue a timely demand notice under subsection (a);
(B) file a timely tax warrant under subdivision (1); or
(C) renew all tax warrants under subdivision (3);
the department shall extinguish the tax liability from which the
demand notice or judgment arose, and no state agency shall treat
the tax liability as a delinquency for purposes of Indiana law.
(g) A judgment arising from a tax warrant in a county shall be
released by the department:
(1) after the judgment, including all accrued interest to the date of
payment, has been fully satisfied; or
(2) if the department determines that the tax assessment or the
issuance of the tax warrant was in error.
(h) Subject to subsections (p) and (q), if the department determines
that the filing of a tax warrant was in error or if the commissioner
determines that the release of the judgment and expungement of the tax
warrant are in the best interest of the state, the department shall mail a
release of the judgment to the taxpayer and the circuit court clerk of
each county where the warrant was filed. The circuit court clerk of each
county where the warrant was filed shall expunge the warrant from the
judgment debtor's column of the judgment record. The department shall
mail the release and the order for the warrant to be expunged as soon
as possible but no later than seven (7) days after:
(1) the determination by the department that the filing of the
warrant was in error; and
(2) the receipt of information by the department that the judgment
has been recorded under subsection (d).
(i) If the department determines that a judgment described in
subsection (h) is obstructing a lawful transaction, the department shall
immediately upon making the determination mail:
(1) a release of the judgment to the taxpayer; and
(2) an order requiring the circuit court clerk of each county where
the judgment was filed to expunge the warrant.
(j) A release issued under subsection (h) or (i) must state that the
filing of the tax warrant was in error. Upon the request of the taxpayer,
the department shall mail a copy of a release and the order for the
warrant to be expunged issued under subsection (h) or (i) to each major
credit reporting company located in each county where the judgment
was filed.
(k) The commissioner shall notify each state agency or officer
supplied with a tax warrant list of the issuance of a release under
subsection (h) or (i).
(l) If the sheriff collects the full amount of a tax warrant, the sheriff
shall disburse the money collected in the manner provided in section
3(c) of this chapter. If a judgment has been partially or fully satisfied
by a person's surety, the surety becomes subrogated to the department's
rights under the judgment. If a sheriff releases a judgment:
(1) before the judgment is fully satisfied;
(2) before the sheriff has properly disbursed the amount collected;
or
(3) after the sheriff has returned the tax warrant to the department;
the sheriff commits a Class B misdemeanor and is personally liable for
the part of the judgment not remitted to the department.
(m) A lien on real property described in subsection (e)(2) is void if
both of the following occur:
(1) The person owing the tax provides written notice to the
department to file an action to foreclose the lien.
(2) The department fails to file an action to foreclose the lien not
later than one hundred eighty (180) days after receiving the
notice.
(n) A person who gives notice under subsection (m) by registered
or certified mail to the department may file an affidavit of service of the
notice to file an action to foreclose the lien with the circuit court clerk
in the county in which the property is located. The affidavit must state
the following:
(1) The facts of the notice.
(2) That more than one hundred eighty (180) days have passed
since the notice was received by the department.
(3) That no action for foreclosure of the lien is pending.
(4) That no unsatisfied judgment has been rendered on the lien.
(o) Upon receipt of the affidavit described in subsection (n), the
circuit court clerk shall make an entry showing the release of the
judgment lien in the judgment records for tax warrants.
(p) The department shall adopt rules to define the circumstances
under which a release and expungement may be granted based on a
finding that the release and expungement would be in the best interest
of the state. The rules may allow the commissioner to expunge a tax
warrant in other circumstances not inconsistent with subsection (q) that
the commissioner determines are appropriate. Any releases or
expungements granted by the commissioner must be consistent with
these rules.
(q) The commissioner may expunge a tax warrant in the following
circumstances:
(1) If the taxpayer has timely and fully filed and paid all of the
taxpayer's state taxes, or has otherwise resolved any outstanding
state tax issues, for the preceding five (5) years.
(2) If the warrant was issued more than ten (10) years prior to the
expungement.
(3) If the warrant is not subject to pending litigation.
(4) Other circumstances not inconsistent with subdivisions (1)
through (3) that are specified in the rules adopted under
subsection (p).
(r) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, the
commissioner may decline to release a judgment or expunge a warrant
upon a finding that the warrant was issued based on the taxpayer's
fraudulent, intentional, or reckless conduct.
(s) The rules required under subsection (p) shall specify the process
for requesting that the commissioner release and expunge a tax
warrant.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.61, SEC.1. Amended by
P.L.332-1989(ss), SEC.29; P.L.71-1993, SEC.22; P.L.18-1994,
SEC.42; P.L.129-2001, SEC.22; P.L.111-2006, SEC.6; P.L.172-2011,
SEC.87; P.L.99-2011, SEC.1; P.L.6-2012, SEC.57; P.L.293-2013(ts),
SEC.30; P.L.242-2015, SEC.38; P.L.181-2016, SEC.29; P.L.234-2019,
SEC.34.