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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2005 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 58.1-3916 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 58.1-3916. Counties, cities and towns may provide dates for filing returns, set penalties, interest, etc.
Notwithstanding provisions contained in §§ 58.1-3518,
58.1-3900, 58.1-3913, 58.1-3915 and 58.1-3918, the governing body of any
county, city or town may provide by ordinance the time for filing local license
applications and annual returns of taxable tangible personal property,
machinery and tools and merchants' capital. The governing body may also by
ordinance establish due dates for the payment of local taxes; may provide that
payment be made in a single installment or in two equal installments; may offer
options, which may include coupon books and payroll deductions, which allow the
taxpayer to determine whether to pay the tangible personal property tax through
monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, or semiannual installments or in a lump sum,
provided such taxes are paid in full by the final due date; may provide by
ordinance penalties for failure to file such applications and returns and for
nonpayment in time; may provide for payment of interest on delinquent taxes;
and may provide for the recovery of reasonable attorney's or collection
agency's fees actually contracted for, not to exceed twenty 20
percent of the delinquent taxes and other charges so collected. A locality that
provides for payment of interest on delinquent taxes shall provide for interest
at the same rate on overpayments due to erroneously assessed taxes to be paid
to the taxpayer, provided that no interest shall be required to be paid on such
refund if (i) the amount of the refund is ten dollars $10 or less
or (ii) the refund is the result of proration pursuant to § 58.1-3516. A court
that finds that an overpayment of local taxes has been made in an action
brought pursuant to § 58.1-3984 shall award interest at the appropriate rate,
notwithstanding the failure of the locality to conform its ordinance to the
requirements of this section.
No tax assessment or tax bill shall be deemed delinquent and
subject to the collection procedures prescribed herein during the pendency of
any administrative appeal under § 58.1-3980, so long as the appeal is filed
within ninety 90 days of the date of the assessment, and for
thirty 30 days after the date of the final determination of the
appeal, provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to preclude
the assessment or refund, following the final determination of such appeal, of
such interest as otherwise may be provided by general law as to that portion of
a tax bill which has remained unpaid or was overpaid during the pendency of
such appeal and is determined in such appeal to be properly due and owing.
Interest may commence not earlier than the first day following
the day such taxes are due by ordinance to be filed, at a rate not to exceed
ten 10 percent per year. The governing body may impose interest at a
rate not to exceed the rate of interest established pursuant to § 6621 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, or ten 10 percent
annually, whichever is greater, for the second and subsequent years of
delinquency. No penalty for failure to pay a tax or installment shall exceed
(i) ten 10 percent of the tax past due on such property,;
(ii) in the case of delinquent tangible personal property tax more than
thirty 30 days past due on property classified pursuant to
subdivision A 13, A 14 or A 18 of § 58.1-3506, which remains unpaid after
ten 10 days' written notice sent by United States mail to the
taxpayer of the intention to impose a penalty pursuant hereto, the penalty
shall not exceed an amount equal to the difference between the tax due and
owing with respect to such property and the tax that would have been due and
owing if the property in question had been classified as general tangible
personal property pursuant to § 58.1-3503,; (iii) in the case of
delinquent tangible personal property tax more than thirty 30
days past due, twenty-five 25 percent of the tax past due on such
tangible personal property,; (iv) in the case of delinquent
remittance of excise taxes on meals, lodging, or admissions collected from
consumers, 10 percent for the first month the taxes are past due, and five
percent for each month thereafter, up to a maximum of 25 percent of the taxes
collected but not remitted; or (iv) (v) ten dollars
$10, whichever is greater. No penalty for failure to file a return shall be
greater than ten 10 percent of the tax assessable on such return
or ten dollars $10, whichever is greater; provided, however, that
the penalty shall in no case exceed the amount of the tax assessable. The
assessment of such penalty shall not be deemed a defense to any criminal prosecution
for failing to make return of taxable property as may be required by law or
ordinance. Penalty for failure to file an application or return may be assessed
on the day after such return or application is due; penalty for failure to pay
any tax may be assessed on the day after the first installment is due. Any such
penalty when so assessed shall become a part of the tax.
No penalty for failure to pay any tax shall be imposed for any assessment made later than two weeks prior to the day on which the taxes are due, if such assessment is made thereafter through the fault of a local official, and if such assessment is paid within two weeks after the notice thereof is mailed.
In the event a transfer of real property ownership occurs after January 1 of a tax year and a real estate tax bill has been mailed pursuant to §§ 58.1-3281 and 58.1-3912, the treasurer or other appropriate local official designated by ordinance of the local governing body in jurisdictions not having a treasurer, upon ascertaining that a property transfer has occurred, may invalidate a bill sent to the prior owner and reissue the bill to the new owner as permitted by § 58.1-3912, and no penalty for failure to pay any tax for any such assessment shall be imposed if the tax is paid within two weeks after the notice thereof is mailed.
Penalty and interest for failure to file a return or to pay a
tax shall not be imposed if such failure was not the fault of the taxpayer, or
was the fault of the commissioner of revenue or the treasurer, as the case may
be. The failure to file a return or to pay a tax due to the death of the
taxpayer or a medically determinable physical or mental impairment on the date
the return or tax is due shall be presumptive proof of lack of fault on the
taxpayer's part, provided the return is filed or the taxes are paid within
thirty 30 days of the due date; however, if there is a committee,
legal guardian, conservator or other fiduciary handling the individual's
affairs, such return shall be filed or such taxes paid within 120 days after
the fiduciary qualifies or begins to act on behalf of the taxpayer. Interest on
such taxes shall accrue until paid in full. Any such fiduciary shall, on behalf
of the taxpayer, by the due date, file any required returns and pay any taxes which
come due after the 120-day period. The treasurer shall make determinations of
fault relating exclusively to failure to pay a tax, and the commissioner of the
revenue shall make determinations of fault relating exclusively to failure to
file a return. In jurisdictions not having a treasurer or commissioner of the
revenue, the governing body may delegate to the appropriate local tax officials
the responsibility to make the determination of fault.
The governing body may further provide by resolution for
reasonable extensions of time, not to exceed ninety 90 days, for
the payment of real estate and personal property taxes and for filing returns
on tangible personal property, machinery and tools and merchants' capital, and
the business, professional, and occupational license tax, whenever good cause
exists. The official granting such extension shall keep a record of every such
extension. If any taxpayer who has been granted an extension of time for filing
his return fails to file his return within the extended time, his case shall be
treated the same as if no extension had been granted.
This section shall be the sole authority for local ordinances setting due dates of local taxes and penalty and interest thereon, and shall supersede the provisions of any charter or special act.