Recent Developments in Indiana Taxation - I.U. School of Law ...

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1162 INDIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 40:1103 appeal. 646 Will’s Far-Go argued that the taxes were illegally assessed because personal property should be taxed in the location of its owner, unless it is permanently 647 located elsewhere. They argue that, because the inventory was awaiting transport to Fountain County, it should have been taxed there instead of being 648 taxed at its temporary location in Elkhart County. Will’s Far-Go also argued 649 that there is no time limit for filing a Form 133. However, the Tax Court 650 disagreed with Will’s Far-Go and upheld the reasoning of the BTR. Although it found that the statute and regulation that allow for correction of error was ambiguous about a time limit, the Tax Court looked to common law precedent and judicial rules of construction to give effect to the intent of the administrative 651 agency and to avoid unjust or absurd results. Generally, taxpayers who wish to challenge the legality of a tax pay the tax first, then file a Form 133 to challenge the assessment of the taxes and separately file a petition for a refund 652 of taxes. Will’s Far-Go did not pay the assessed taxes and was therefore not claiming a refund. However, the Tax Court refused to allow Will’s Far-Go to achieve the same result of being relieved of the burden of its tax assessment by 653 not paying the taxes up-front. To allow Will’s Far Go to challenge the legality of the assessed taxes for an infinite time because they did not pay the taxes before claiming a refund would penalize those taxpayers who do pay their 654 taxes. Will’s Far-Go also argued that they would be penalized because the 655 property had already been taxed in Fountain County. However, the Tax Court refused to allow Will’s Far-Go to just ignore the assessments from Elkhart 656 County. Will’s Far-Go had plenty of notice and time to challenge the 657 assessments but failed to do so in a timely manner. The Tax Court upheld the decision of the BTR that the Forms 133 were not timely filed. 658 659 8. Krol v. Indiana Board of Tax Review. —The Krols initiated an appeal of the 2002 assessment of their commercial real property in Lake County on 660 February 8, 2006. This decision was on a motion to dismiss for lack of 646. Id. 647. Id. at 1077 n.4. 648. Id. 649. Id. 650. Id. 651. Id. at 1077-78. 652. Id. at 1077. 653. Id. at 1078. 654. Id. 655. Id. at 1078 n.5. 656. Id. at 1078. 657. Id. 658. Id. at 1079. 659. 848 N.E.2d 1185 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2006). 660. Id. at 1186.
2007] TAX LAW 1163 661 jurisdiction filed by the BTR. The BTR claimed that the Tax Court lacked jurisdiction over this case because the Krols did not properly verify their petition 662 and did not name the proper respondent. The Tax Court confirmed that it did have subject matter jurisdiction over the case because the claim challenged the assessment of property tax and is an initial appeal of a final determination of the 663 BTR. The BTR argued that the petition failed to name the DLGF as a 664 respondent as required by the Tax Court Rules. Although the caption of the petition did not name the DLGF as a respondent, the petition’s body and an attached copy of the final determination of the BTR both included the DLGF. 665 According to the Tax Court, that was “sufficient to identify the DLGF as a named respondent in accordance with the requirements of AOPA and Tax Court 666 Rule 4.” The BTR also argued that the petition was not properly verified 667 because it was verified by the Krols’ attorney and not by the petitioners. The 668 Supreme Court’s precedent provides that an attorney may verify a petition on behalf of a corporation and the Court of Appeals extended the same reasoning to 669 allow an attorney to verify a petition on behalf of an individual. The Tax Court followed the reasoning of those earlier decisions in deciding “that because the AOPA, the Tax Court Rules, and the Trial Rules do not preclude an attorney 670 from verifying a petition . . . the Krols’ petition was properly verified.” The Tax Court denied the motions to dismiss and required the parties to correct the caption to properly reflect the DLGF as the named respondent. 671 9. Miller Beach Investments, LLC v. Department of Local Government 672 Finance. —On February 24, 2006, Miller Beach initiated an appeal of four final determinations made by the BTR regarding assessments of its real property for 673 the tax year 2002. This decision was on a motion to dismiss for lack of 674 jurisdiction filed by the DLGF. The Tax Court first confirmed that it had subject matter jurisdiction over the appeals because the claims “challenge the 661. Id. 662. Id. 663. Id. at 1187. 664. Id. 665. Id. 666. Id. 667. Id. at 1188. 668. Id. at 1189 (citing Ind. Dep’t of Pub. Welfare v. Chair Lance Serv., Inc., 523 N.E.2d 1373, 1377 (Ind. 1988)). 669. Id. (citing Giles v. County Dep’t of Pub. Welfare of Marion County, 579 N.E.2d 653, 655 (Ind. Ct. App. 1991)). 670. Id. 671. Id. at 1190. 672. 848 N.E.2d 1190 (Ind. Tax Ct. 2006). 673. Id. at 1192. At the time of the assessments, James Nowacki owned the 20 parcels that were the subject of the final determinations. He initiated the appeals, but had sold the properties to Miller Beach before the BTR conducted the hearings on the appeals. Id. at 1192 n.l. 674. Id. at 1193.
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