§ 106-9.3. Procedure for assessment of fees and taxes.
§ 106‑9.3. Procedure for assessment of fees and taxes.
(a) If the Commissioner of Agriculture discovers from theexamination of any report filed by a taxpayer or otherwise that any fee or taxor additional fee or tax is due from any taxpayer, he shall give notice to thetaxpayer in writing of the kind and amount of fee or tax which is due and ofhis intent to assess the same, which notice shall contain advice to the effectthat unless application for a rehearing is made within the time specified insubsection (c), the proposed assessment will become conclusive and final.
If the Commissioner is unable to obtain from the taxpayer adequate andreliable information upon which to base such assessment, the assessment may bemade upon the basis of the best information available and, subject to theprovisions hereinafter made, such assessment shall be deemed correct.
(b) The notice required to be given in subsection (a) may bedelivered to the taxpayer by an agent of the Commissioner or may be sent bymail to the last known address of the taxpayer and such notice will be deemedto have been received in due course of the mail unless the taxpayer shall makean affidavit to the contrary within 90 days after such notice is mailed, inwhich event the taxpayer shall be heard by the Commissioner in all respects asif he had made timely application.
(c) Any taxpayer who objects to a proposed assessment of fee ortax or additional fee or tax shall be entitled to a hearing before theCommissioner of Agriculture, provided application therefor is made in writingwithin 30 days after the mailing or delivery of the notice required bysubsection (a). If application for a hearing is made in due time, theCommissioner of Agriculture shall set a time and place for the hearing and afterconsidering the taxpayer's objections shall give written notice of his decisionto the taxpayer. The amount of fee or tax or additional fee or tax due from thetaxpayer as finally determined by the Commissioner shall thereupon be assessedand upon assessment shall become immediately due and collectible.
Provided, the taxpayer may request the Commissioner at any time within30 days of notice of such proposed assessment for a written statement, ortranscript, of the information and the evidence upon which the proposedassessment is based, and the Commissioner of Agriculture shall furnish suchstatement, or transcript, to the taxpayer. Provided, further, after request bythe taxpayer for such written statement, or transcript, the taxpayer shall have30 days after the receipt of the same from the Commissioner of Agriculture to apply in writing for such hearing, explaining in detail his objections to suchproposed assessment. If no request for such hearing is so made, such proposedassessment shall be final and conclusive.
(d) If no timely application for a hearing is made within 30days after notice of a proposed assessment of fee or tax or additional fee ortax is given pursuant to subsection (a), such proposed fee or tax or additionalfee or tax assessment shall become final without further notice and shall beimmediately due and collectible.
(e) Where a proper report has been filed by a taxpayer and inthe absence of fraud, the Commissioner of Agriculture shall assess any fee ortax or additional fee or tax due from the taxpayer within three years after thedate upon which such report is filed or within three years after the date uponwhich such report was required by law to be filed, whichever is the later. Ifno report has been filed, and in the absence of fraud, any fee or tax oradditional fee or tax due from a taxpayer may be assessed at any time withinfive years after the date upon which such report was required by law to befiled. In the event a false and fraudulent report has been filed or there has beenan attempt in any manner to fraudulently defeat or evade a fee or tax, any feeor tax or additional fee or tax due from the taxpayer may be assessed at anytime.
(f) Except as hereinafter provided in subsection (g), theCommissioner of Agriculture shall have no authority to assess any fee or tax oradditional fee or tax under this section until the notice required bysubsection (a) shall have been given and the period within which an applicationfor a hearing may be filed has expired, or if a timely application for ahearing if filed, until written notice of the Commissioner's decision has beengiven to the taxpayer, provided, however that if the notice required bysubsection (a) shall be mailed or delivered within the limitation prescribedin subsection (e), such limitation shall be deemed to have been complied withand the proceeding may be carried forward to its conclusion.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, theCommissioner of Agriculture shall have authority at any time within theapplicable period of limitations to proceed at once to assess any fee or tax oradditional fee or tax which he finds is due from a taxpayer if, in his opinion,the collection of such fee or tax is in jeopardy and immediate assessment isnecessary in order to protect the interest of the State, provided, however,that if an assessment is made pursuant to the authority set forth in thissubsection before the notice required by subsection (a) is given, suchassessment shall not be valid unless the notice required by subsection (a)shall be given within 30 days after the date of such assessment.
(h) All assessments of fees or taxes or additional fees or taxes(exclusive of penalties assessed thereon) shall bear interest at the rate ofone half of one percent (0.5%) per month or fraction thereof from the time saidfees or taxes or additional fees or taxes were due to have been paid untilpaid. (1963, c. 458.)