HB2712 - 472R - House Bill Summary

House of Representatives

HB 2712

tax decisions; distribution

Sponsor: Representatives Yarbrough, Huffman, Allen J, Anderson et al

DPA	Committee on Ways and Means
x	Committee on Judiciary
	Caucus and COW
	As Engrossed and As Passed the House

HB 2712 makes tax decisions available to the public.

History

Currently, tax decisions made in the Department of Revenue (DOR), the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and other state and local tax agencies are confidential. Likewise, some decisions at the State Board of Tax Appeals, the Tax Court and other courts are not published. While the DOR has access to these decisions, taxpayers do not. Taxpayer organizations and practitioners have previously asked the DOR to publish redacted decisions to their website. Only a few decisions have been posted. Currently, the Municipal Tax Hearing Office does publish redacted municipal tax decisions.

This bill would give taxpayers equal access to tax decisions.

Provisions

· Requires the following agencies and courts to provide tax decisions to the law libraries, state university Colleges of Law and any person who requests them, and to publish tax decisions on their official website.

· The DOR

· The OAH

· Each city or town tax hearing office

· The State Board of Equalization

· The Department of Economic Security (DES)

· The Department of Transportation (DOT)

· The State Board of Tax Appeals

· The Court of Appeals

· The Tax Court

· Defines redacted tax decision as a decision with the name of the taxpayer and the amount of tax in dispute deleted from the text.

· Defines tax decision as a ruling, decision, opinion, minute entry, memorandum decision or any other written resolution of a state, county or municipal tax dispute or appeal and includes actions taken by any of the agencies, courts, or hearing officers of the agencies or courts listed above and the Supreme Court. Tax decisions do not include published opinions issued by the Tax Court, Court of Appeals, or Supreme Court.

· Requires the agencies and courts to establish and maintain an official website by January 1, 2008 if they do not currently have one.

Amendments

Ways and Means:

· Removes the State Board of Equalization from the list of agencies and courts required to make tax decisions public.

· Adds municipal tax hearing officers and the Arizona Supreme Court to the list of agencies and courts required to make tax decisions public.

· Clarifies the definition of redacted tax decision to also omit the amount of penalty and interest in dispute and any other information that might identify the taxpayer from the text of the decision.

· Clarifies the definition of tax decision as a decision that involves substantive or significant technical or procedural issue.

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· Forty-seventh Legislature