735-176-0190 Requesting Reassessment; Use Fuel Waiver of Late Payment Penalties (1) If a user, seller, or bulk distributor 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 with appeal rights include: (a) Denial or suspension of license. (b) Adjustments to use fuel user or seller tax reports. (c) Assessment of tax based on available information. (2) If the Department and the user or seller are not able to resolve the issue through the internal review process, the user or seller may request a hearing. (a) The hearing shall be a contested case hearing under the provisions of ORS Chapter 183. (b) The licensee must request a hearing in writing before the Notice of Assessment becomes final. (3) ORS 319.694(2) allows the Department to waive penalties for late payment of use fuel tax. (4) An entity or a person may submit a written request for waiver of late payment penalties to the Department. (5) The penalty under ORS 319.694 may be waived if the taxpayer shows reasonable cause for delay in filing the report or paying the tax. (a) A taxpayer who wishes to apply for waiver of the penalty must explain the facts and circumstances that reasonably led to the failure to file a report or pay tax on time. The written statement will contain a declaration that it is made under penalty of perjury. The statement should be filed with the report or filed with the Department within 30 days of the Notice of Assessment. (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 which rendered it impossible to make the filing or payment or which made delay unavoidable in making the filing or payment; or (B) Acts or omissions by a third party which were beyond the control of the person making the filing or payment and which made delay unavoidable in making the filing or payment; or (C) The person took in good faith all steps and precautions reasonably necessary to ensure the timeliness of the filing or payment; and (D) Any other criteria the Department may find to be informative and appropriate. (c) The calculation of the penalty will be shown on all adjustments. If the person requests a waiver and it is granted, the amount waived will also be shown. (d) The following reasons are not acceptable for granting 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; or (G) Reliance on, or errors made by third party payers, suppliers or customers. (6) 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. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 184.616, 184.619 & 319.510 - 319.880 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 319.530 - 319.690 History: DMV 13-2014, f. 11-25-14, cert. ef. 7-1-15