OAR 735-170-0045: Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Waiver of Late Payment Penalties

(1) If a dealer or registrant disagrees with an action of the Department, they may request reassessment of the determination in writing within 30 days of the date of the notice. Notice types which may be reconsidered include: (a) Denial or suspension of license. (b) Adjustments to motor vehicle fuel dealer tax reports. (c) Assessment of tax based on available information. (2) If the Department and the dealer or registrant are not able to resolve the issue through the internal review process, the dealer or registrant may request a contested case hearing under the provisions of ORS Chapter 183. The dealer or registrant must request the hearing in writing before the notice of assessment becomes final. (3) ORS 319.090(2) and 319.180(4) allow the Department to waive certain penalties. (4) Any entity or a person may submit a written request for waiver of penalty to the Department. (5) The penalty under ORS 319.090 and 319.180 may be waived if the taxpayer shows reasonable cause. (a) A taxpayer who wishes to apply for waiver of the penalty must make an affirmative showing of all facts alleged as a reasonable cause. The written statement must contain a declaration that it is made under penalty of perjury. The statement should be filed with the report or filed with the Department as soon as possible thereafter. (b) Circumstances that may constitute reasonable cause include, but are not limited to the following: (A) War, riot, rebellion, acts of God or other disaster; or (B) Acts or omissions by a third party which were beyond the control of the person; or (C) The person in good faith took all steps and precautions reasonably necessary to comply with the statute; and (D) Any other criteria the Department may find to be informative and appropriate. (6) For purposes of determining the amount of motor vehicle fuel sold, distributed or used where a dealer fails to report as described in ORS 319.200, “best available information” is defined in OAR 735-170-0000. (7) Penalties described in ORS 319.190 will not be waived. Penalties described in 319.200 are cumulative to penalties described in 319.090, 319.180 and 319.190 and will not be waived. (8) The following reasons are not acceptable for granting a penalty waiver: (a) Employee incompetence or inexperience; (b) Employee turnover; (c) Misunderstanding or ignorance of law; (d) Computer failure or error that is not the result of a natural disaster; (e) Changeover to new accounting processes, software or upgrades; (f) Change in company operations; (g) Errors or reliance on the part of third-party suppliers or customers. (9) Penalties for amended reports and audit adjustments will be applied in accordance with applicable statutes. At the discretion of the Department the following criteria may be used to determine waiver of penalty: (a) Accuracy of previous audits and payment history; (b) Accuracy of current reports based on Departmental review; (c) Compliance with previous audit recommendations; (d) Cooperation in providing requested records in a timely manner; (e) Any other criteria the Department may find to be informative and appropriate. (10) A taxpayer filing tax reports through the Department’s electronic system will not be charged penalty or interest if: (a) The licensee attempts to submit a timely filed tax report (b) The Department’s electronic filing system is not available to receive the transmission (c) The licensee immediately notifies the Department that the electronic filing system is not available to receive their transmission. (d) The licensee submits the tax report and remits the balance due on the first business day the system is available to receive the transmission.