Opinion ID: 1293123
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Compromise and Settlement Powers

Text: On appeal, WGL also relies on Code § 12.1-15 [3] (which was never invoked in the Commission's opinion) as the Commission's authority to order refund of its payment. The first paragraph of that statute enables the Commission in any matter . . . within its jurisdiction, under any provision of law . . . to compromise or settle any matter . . . in a formal proceeding or informally. Pointing to that language and the authority granted by § 56-249.1 to fix prices on spot sales, the Commission insists that the taxing statutes in issue are indeed subject to judicial interpretation by the Commission. But the power to compromise and settle is not the power to waive and exempt. Moreover, the broad authority granted in the first paragraph of § 12.1-15 must be construed in light of the statute's provisions defining the Commission's power in tax disputes. The fourth paragraph authorizes the Commission to waive the assessment of any penalty or interest upon any tax . . assessed by the Commission (emphasis added). And, under the fifth paragraph, the Commission can charge off delinquent taxes, but only when the claims therefor are worthless or cannot be economically collected. While § 12.1-15 may authorize the Commission to compromise or settle a dispute over the amount of tax due under an assessment, it does not empower the Commission to exempt particular receipts from gross receipts taxes. We find nothing in any of the several statutes cited or elsewhere which supports the Commission's view that it has the authority to waive gross receipts taxes on emergency spot sales. Had the General Assembly intended to grant such authority, it could have done so expressly. It did not, and we cannot accept the strained conclusion that it did so implicitly. In summary, we hold that the first ground underlying the Commission's opinion is without merit.