SSB 6385 -
By Committee on Finance
Beginning on page 6, line 31, strike all of section 6 and insert the following:
"Sec. 6 RCW 82.32.090 and 2003 1st sp.s. c 13 s 13 are each
amended to read as follows:
(1) If payment of any tax due on a return to be filed by a taxpayer
is not received by the department of revenue by the due date, there
shall be assessed a penalty of five percent of the amount of the tax;
and if the tax is not received on or before the last day of the month
following the due date, there shall be assessed a total penalty of
fifteen percent of the amount of the tax under this subsection; and if
the tax is not received on or before the last day of the second month
following the due date, there shall be assessed a total penalty of
twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax under this subsection. No
penalty so added shall be less than five dollars.
(2) If the department of revenue determines that any tax ((is due))
has been substantially underpaid, there shall be assessed a penalty of
five percent of the amount of the tax determined by the department to
be due((; and)). If payment of any tax determined by the department to
be due is not received by the department by the due date specified in
the notice, or any extension thereof, there shall be assessed a total
penalty of fifteen percent of the amount of the tax under this
subsection; and if ((the)) payment of any tax determined by the
department to be due is not received on or before the thirtieth day
following the due date specified in the notice of tax due, or any
extension thereof, there shall be assessed a total penalty of twenty-five percent of the amount of the tax under this subsection. No
penalty so added shall be less than five dollars. As used in this
section, "substantially underpaid" means that the taxpayer has paid
less than eighty percent of the amount of tax determined by the
department to be due for all of the types of taxes included in, and for
the entire period of time covered by, the department's examination, and
the amount of underpayment is at least one thousand dollars.
(3) If a warrant be issued by the department of revenue for the
collection of taxes, increases, and penalties, there shall be added
thereto a penalty of ten percent of the amount of the tax, but not less
than ten dollars.
(4) If the department finds that a person has engaged in any
business or performed any act upon which a tax is imposed under this
title and that person has not obtained from the department a
registration certificate as required by RCW 82.32.030, the department
shall impose a penalty of five percent of the amount of tax due from
that person for the period that the person was not registered as
required by RCW 82.32.030. The department shall not impose the penalty
under this subsection (4) if a person who has engaged in business
taxable under this title without first having registered as required by
RCW 82.32.030, prior to any notification by the department of the need
to register, obtains a registration certificate from the department.
(5) If the department finds that all or any part of a deficiency
resulted from the disregard of specific written instructions as to
reporting or tax liabilities, the department shall add a penalty of ten
percent of the amount of the additional tax found due because of the
failure to follow the instructions. A taxpayer disregards specific
written instructions when the department of revenue has informed the
taxpayer in writing of the taxpayer's tax obligations and the taxpayer
fails to act in accordance with those instructions unless the
department has not issued final instructions because the matter is
under appeal pursuant to this chapter or departmental regulations. The
department shall not assess the penalty under this section upon any
taxpayer who has made a good faith effort to comply with the specific
written instructions provided by the department to that taxpayer.
Specific written instructions may be given as a part of a tax
assessment, audit, determination, or closing agreement, provided that
such specific written instructions shall apply only to the taxpayer
addressed or referenced on such documents. Any specific written
instructions by the department of revenue shall be clearly identified
as such and shall inform the taxpayer that failure to follow the
instructions may subject the taxpayer to the penalties imposed by this
subsection.
(6) If the department finds that all or any part of the deficiency
resulted from an intent to evade the tax payable hereunder, a further
penalty of fifty percent of the additional tax found to be due shall be
added.
(7) The penalties imposed under subsections (1) through (4) of this
section can each be imposed on the same tax found to be due. This
subsection does not prohibit or restrict the application of other
penalties authorized by law.
(8) The department of revenue may not impose both the evasion
penalty and the penalty for disregarding specific written instructions
on the same tax found to be due.
(9) For the purposes of this section, "return" means any document
a person is required by the state of Washington to file to satisfy or
establish a tax or fee obligation that is administered or collected by
the department of revenue, and that has a statutorily defined due
date."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Provides a 5% penalty for "substantial underpayment" of less than 80% of the tax due, if the amount of underpayment is at least $1,000.