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                                            ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL NO. 24

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State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Sutherland, Peery and P. King

Read first time 1/13/87 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

AN ACT Relating to motor vehicle fuel excise tax payments; amending RCW 82.36.030 and 82.36.040; and adding a new section to chapter 82.38 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 82.36.030, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 and RCW 82.36.030 are each amended to read as follows:

          Every distributor shall on or before the twenty-fifth day of each calendar month file, on forms furnished by the director, a statement signed by the distributor or his authorized agent showing the total number of gallons of motor vehicle fuel sold, distributed, or used by such distributor within this state during the preceding calendar month.

          If any distributor fails to file such report, the director shall proceed forthwith to determine from the best available sources, the amount of motor vehicle fuel sold, distributed, or used by such distributor for the unreported period, and said determination shall be presumed to be correct for that period until proved by competent evidence to be otherwise.  The director shall immediately assess the excise tax in the amount so determined, adding thereto a penalty of ten percent for failure to report.  Such penalty shall be cumulative of other penalties herein provided.  All statements filed with the director, as required in this section, shall be public records.

If any distributor establishes by a fair preponderance of evidence that his or her failure to file a report by the due date was attributable to reasonable cause and was not intentional or wilful, the department may waive the penalty imposed by this section.

        Sec. 2.  Section 82.36.040, chapter 15, Laws of 1961 as amended by section 1, chapter 28, Laws of 1977 and RCW 82.36.040 are each amended to read as follows:

          The amount of excise tax for each month shall be paid to the director on or before the twenty-fifth day of the next month thereafter, and if not paid prior thereto, shall become delinquent at the close of business on that day, and a penalty of one percent of such excise tax must be added thereto for delinquency:  PROVIDED, That in no case shall the penalty be more than five hundred dollars.  If such tax and penalty is not received on or before the close of business on the last day of the month in which the payment is due an additional penalty of ten percent must be added thereto in addition to penalty above provided for.  If any distributor establishes by a fair preponderance of evidence that his or her failure to pay the amount of tax due by the due date was attributable to reasonable cause and was not intentional or wilful, the department may waive the penalty imposed by this section.

          Any motor vehicle fuel tax, penalties, and interest payable under the provisions of this chapter shall bear interest at the rate of one-half of one percent per month, or fraction thereof, from the first day of the calendar month after the close of the monthly period for which the amount or any portion thereof should have been paid until the date of payment:  PROVIDED, That the interest charge on the unpaid excise tax shall be waived when such interest is less than five dollars:  AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That the department may waive the interest on the unpaid excise tax when the interest exceeds five dollars and the department determines that the cost of processing the collection of the interest exceeds the amount of interest due.

          In any suit brought to enforce the rights of the state hereunder, the certificate of the director showing the amount of taxes, penalties, interest and cost unpaid by any distributor and that the same are due and unpaid to the state shall be prima facie evidence of the facts as shown.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 82.38 RCW to read as follows:

          There is exempted from the tax imposed by this chapter the use of special fuel for the operation of a motor vehicle as a part of or incidental to logging operations upon a highway under federal jurisdiction within the boundaries of a federal area if the federal government requires a fee for the privilege of operating the motor vehicle upon the highway, the proceeds of which are reserved for constructing or maintaining roads in the federal area, or requires maintenance or construction work to be performed on the highway for the privilege of operating the motor vehicle on the highway.