Tax Type
Individual Income Tax
Description
Taxpayer has not provided sufficient documentation to support his position
Topic
Assessment
Records/Returns/Payments
Date Issued
08-08-2014
August 8, 2014
Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Individual Income Tax
Dear *****:
This will reply to your letter in which you seek reconsideration of the Department's determination letter, issued as Public Document (P.D.) 13-110 (6/20/2013), to ***** (the "Taxpayer") for the taxable years ended December 31, 2005 through 2010. I apologize for the delay in responding to your request.
FACTS
In P.D. 13-110, the Department held the Taxpayer was subject to Virginia income tax and upheld the assessments for the taxable years at issue. The Taxpayer contends a number of findings made by the Department were erroneous and he provided sufficient documentation to support his claim that he was not a resident of Virginia.
DETERMINATION
Title 23 of the Virginia Administrative Code (VAC) 10-20-165 F permits taxpayers to request a reconsideration of a determination issued under Va. Code § 58.1-1821. Such requests, however, must meet one of the four following requirements:
- 1. The facts upon which the original determination is based are misstated by the Tax Commissioner or are inaccurate, and the determination would have a different result based on a correction of the Tax Commissioner's misstatement of the facts presented or a clarification of the original facts presented in the taxpayer's administrative appeal;
2. The law upon which the original determination is based has been changed by legislation, court decision or other authority effective for the tax period(s) at issue;
3. The policy upon which the original determination is based is misapplied, and the determination would have a different result based on the application of the proper policy; or
4. The taxpayer has discovered additional evidence or documentation that was not available to the taxpayer at the time the original administrative appeal was filed with the Department, and the additional evidence or documentation could produce a result different from the original determination.
Despite the conclusion in P.D. 13-110 that the Taxpayer was subject to Virginia income tax, the Department granted the Taxpayer an opportunity to provide sufficient evidence regarding his domicile and income from Virginia sources for the 2005 through 2010 taxable years. In his response, the Taxpayer asserts the Department misstated or excluded a number of facts; however, he provided no additional documentation or complied with the Department's requests for information.
For example, the Taxpayer now states that he held a ***** (State A) driver's license. A report from State A shows, however, that the Taxpayer's State A driver's license was suspended from February 1999 through March 2011. Further, as indicated in P.D. 13-110, the Taxpayer obtained a Virginia driver's license in 1995 and renewed it continually, as recent as 2010.
The Taxpayer has refused several requests by the Department to provide evidence of filing income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and State A and other documentation to support his claims concerning his residency and his relationship with ***** (VALLC). In addition, as indicated in P.D. 13-110, the Taxpayer appears to have income from Virginia sources even if he was not a resident.
The Department made a determination based on the evidence provided at the time. If the facts are misstated, it was the result of the Taxpayer's failure to clearly set forth and document the facts or respond adequately to the Department's request for additional information, pursuant Va. Code § 58.1-310.
In such cases, Va. Code § 58.1-111 grants the Department authority to make an estimate of income tax based on information made available. Further, under Va. Code § 58.1-205 an assessment of tax by the Department is presumed correct and the Taxpayer has the burden of proving the assessment is improper or erroneous. Finally, Va. Code § 58.1-1826 prevents taxpayers from seeking correction of state tax assessments when the Taxpayer refuses to provide information as requested by the Department.
The Department recognizes the Taxpayer's continuing disagreement with the validity of the assessments at issue. However, the Taxpayer has not provided sufficient documentation to support his position. As such, the assessments for the 2005 through 2010 taxable years are upheld. This letter constitutes the Department's final determination on this matter.
The Code of Virginia sections, regulation, and public document cited are available on-line at www.tax.virginia.gov in the Laws, Rules & Decisions section of the Department's web site. If you have any questions regarding this determination, you may contact ***** in the Department's Office of Tax Policy, Appeals and Rulings, at *****.
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- Sincerely,
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Craig M. Burns
Tax Commissioner
AR/1-5464455649.D
Rulings of the Tax Commissioner