of titrther penalties. A letter to the tax assessor-wllector from the office of the comptroller states in pertinent part: Subsection (b) [of section 33.021 provides that interest accrues on the unpaid balance-the subsection does not provide for penalties to accrueonthatbalance.. . . We have wnsistently interpreted Section 33.02(b) to allow a taxpayer to stop . the imposition of penalties on delinquent taxes by enteting mto an insmlhnent agreement. Throughout the Tax Code, the Legislature specifies "interest"when it means interest and "penalties"when it means penalties. Further, we think the clear intent of Section 33.02 was to allow a taxpayer to formally agree to pay delinquent taxes and avoid the imposition of further penalties or a suit to wllect taxes-a taxpayer would have little or no incentive to enter into an insmlhnent agreement if penalties wntinued to accrue or he wuld still be sued for wlkction. Uaderourimezpraation,atwpc?yacwldnotbe~leforthe 15 percent additionalpenalty ifhe entered into the instaumentagrmment before July 1. Section 33.02 does not permit penshies to accrue after the agreement is made and Section 33.07 does not permit the 15 percentadditionalpenaltytoattachuntUJuly1. Thishssbeenour wnsistent administrativewnstruction of the law. Letter to Antonio Yzaguirre, Jr., Tw Assessor-Collector, Cameron County, from Ray Bonilla, General Counsel, Comptroller of Public Accounts, dated April 16, 1993 (emphasis in the originsl).
You disagree with the wmptroller's wnchrsion. You contend that the phrase "taxes that remain delinquent on July 1 of the year in which they bewme delinquent incur an additional penalty" in section 33.07 refers to delinquent taxes subject to an installment agreement. You base your contention on that fan that section 31.02(a), the provision which establishes the date upon which tsxes become delinquent, sets forth cettain exceptions, namely taxes paid under sections 31.02(b), 31.03 and 31.04, but does not except taxes subject to an installmentagreement under section 33.02. We wncur with the wmptroUer'sinterpretation of section 33.02, and tind your contention unpemuasive.
p. 1219 Honomble LadsV. Saenz - Page 4 (DM-235)
Fbst, we agree with the wmptrokr that it ia dkpoMve that section 33.02 acprrsslyprovidesthatimaenwntimreoto~eontheunpaidbalaaccbutdoesnot dmitrlyprovidethatpwelti~wiUwn&etoiccrw. Again,subaection(b)ofsection 33.02 statesthat "[i]nrcrr.rraccruesasprovidedby Subsection (c) of Section33.01 of this wdeonthetmpaidbalancedtuingthepekdoftheylrrsment: (Emphasisadded.) Subsection (b) does not provide that penalffes will wntinue to be imposed. Significantly, rcction33.01ppovidertorbathtbercaurlofintaat~theimporitiw0fpeaaltia. %bsection (a) of section 33.01, for example,provides: Adelitquenttaxincucsrpenaltyofsixpercentoftheamountof the~forthe~crladumonShitirdelinqucntpl~onepaccllt foreachdditionalmonthorportionofamonththetaxrem8ins unpaid prior to July 1 of the yeu in which it bewmes delinquent. However,ataxdeUtquentonJuly1incursatotalpenaltyoftwelve percentoftbeamountoftbede&nquenttaxwitbout~tothe mmberoftnontbsthetahasbeatdeUnquent.
In~~webclim~itisinsieaificMtthlltpeaiw31.02(a)doesnotaccept instdment agreements. Section 31.02(a) establishes the date upon which taxes become delinquent. It does not impose pen&k, nor do the provisions it excepts.) The imposition of penalties is speciiically lddrrsred in sections 33.01.33.02, end 33.07. We w~withthecomprrolldsw~onthat~provirionsdoaot~aturingunit to imposea penaltyadoptedpursunt to section33.07 on a taxpayerwi20hasenteredinto
p. 1220 HonorableLuisV. Saenz - Page 5 W-235)
mstabat agreemmt under section 33.02 prior to July 1 of the year in which the mes ikatne delinquent.'
SUMMARY
A delinquenttax penalty adopted under section 33.07 of the Tax Code does not apply to delinquent taxes subject to &aliment agramam entered into under section 33.02 of the Tax Code prior toJuly1oftheyeuinwhichthetucesbecMledelinqumt.
DAN MORALES Attorney Oeneral of Texas
WJLL PRYOR