1998 Minnesota Statutes

     268.057 Collection of taxes. 

    Subdivision 1.    Reports; delinquencies; penalties.  (a)
 Any employer who knowingly fails to submit to the commissioner 
 any tax report at the time the report is required under section 
 268.051, subdivision 1a, or 268.0511 shall pay to the department 
 a penalty of up to $25 or an amount of 1-1/2 percent of taxes 
 accrued for each month from and after the due date until the tax 
 report is properly submitted, whichever is greater.  

    (b) If any employer required to submit tax reports fails to 
 do so, or submits, willfully or otherwise, an incorrect or false 
 tax report, the employer shall, on the demand of the 
 commissioner sent by mail or electronic transmission, submit the 
 tax report, or corrected report, within ten days and at the same 
 time pay the tax due.  If the employer fails within that time to 
 submit the tax report or corrected report and pay any tax due, 
 the commissioner shall make an estimated tax report from the 
 commissioner's own knowledge and from information the 
 commissioner may obtain and assess a tax on that basis.  That 
 assessed tax, plus any penalties and interest, shall be paid 
 within ten days after notice of the amount due has been sent by 
 mail or electronic transmission.  Any assessed tax because of 
 the failure of the employer to submit a tax report or corrected 
 tax report shall be prima facie correct and valid, and the 
 employer shall have the burden of establishing its incorrectness 
 or invalidity in any subsequent action or proceeding.  Whenever 
 the delinquent employer files a tax report or corrected tax 
 report, the commissioner may, on finding it substantially 
 correct, accept that report. 

    (c) If the commissioner finds that any part of any 
 employer's tax deficiency is due to fraud with intent to avoid 
 payment of taxes to the fund, 50 percent of the total amount of 
 the deficiency or $500, whichever is greater, shall be assessed 
 as a penalty against the employer and collected in addition to 
 the deficiency. 

    (d) The penalties provided for in paragraphs (a) and (c) 
 are in addition to interest and any other penalties and shall be 
 paid to the department and credited to the contingent account. 

    (e) An employer or officer or agent of an employer is 
 guilty of a gross misdemeanor, unless the tax or other payment 
 involved exceeds $500, in which case the person is guilty of a 
 felony, if the individual: 

    (1) in order to avoid becoming or remaining a subject 
 employer or to avoid or reduce any tax or other payment required 
 under this chapter: 

    (i) makes a false statement or representation knowing it to 
 be false; or 

    (ii) knowingly fails to disclose a material fact; or 

    (2) willfully fails or refuses to pay any taxes or other 
 payment at the time required. 

    Subd. 2.    Tax or payment in lieu of tax presumed valid. 
  The tax and payment in lieu of tax, as assessed by the 
 commissioner, including any penalties, shall be presumed to be 
 valid and correctly determined and assessed, and the burden 
 shall be upon the employer to show its incorrectness or 
 invalidity.  A statement by the commissioner of the amount of 
 the tax, payment in lieu of tax, interest and penalties as 
 determined or assessed by the commissioner, shall be admissible 
 in evidence in any court or administrative proceeding and shall 
 be prima facie evidence of the facts in the statement. 

    Subd. 3.    Confession of judgment.  (a) Any tax report 
 or other form that is required to be filed with the commissioner 
 concerning taxes or payments in lieu of taxes due, shall contain 
 a written declaration that it is made under the penalties for 
 willfully making a false report and shall contain a confession 
 of judgment for the amount of the tax or payments in lieu of 
 taxes shown due thereon to the extent not timely paid together 
 with any interest and penalty due under this chapter. 

    (b) The commissioner may, within six years after the report 
 or other form is filed, notwithstanding section 541.09, enter 
 judgment on any confession of judgment after 20 calendar days' 
 notice served upon the employer by mail.  The judgment shall be 
 entered by the court administrator of any county upon the filing 
 of a photocopy of the confession of judgment along with a 
 statement of the commissioner that the tax or payment in lieu of 
 tax has not been paid. 

    Subd. 4.    Costs.  Any employer which fails to make and 
 submit reports or pay any taxes or payment in lieu of taxes when 
 due is liable to the department for any recording fees, sheriff 
 fees, costs incurred by referral to any public or private agency 
 outside the department, or litigation costs incurred in the 
 collection of the amounts due or obtaining the reports.  

    If any check or money order, in payment of any amount due 
 under this chapter, is not honored when presented for payment, 
 the employer will be assessed a fee of $20 which is in addition 
 to any other fees provided by this chapter.  The fee shall be 
 assessed regardless of the amount of the check or money order or 
 the reason for nonpayment with the exception of processing 
 errors made by a financial institution. 

    Costs due under this subdivision shall be paid to the 
 department and credited to the administration fund. 

    Subd. 5.    Interest on past due taxes.  If taxes or 
 payments in lieu of taxes to the fund are not paid on the date 
 due the unpaid balance shall bear interest at the rate of one 
 and one-half percent per month or any part thereof.  Taxes or 
 payments in lieu of taxes received by mail postmarked on a day 
 following the date due shall be considered to have been paid on 
 the due date if there is substantial evidence that the payment 
 was actually deposited in the United States mail properly 
 addressed to the department with postage prepaid thereon on or 
 before the due date.  Interest collected shall be credited to 
 the contingent account.  Interest may be waived by rules adopted 
 by the commissioner. 

    Subd. 6.    Interest on judgments.  Notwithstanding 
 section 549.09, if judgment is entered upon any past due tax or 
 payment in lieu of taxes, the unpaid judgment shall bear 
 interest at the rate specified in subdivision 5 until the date 
 of payment.  

    Subd. 7.    Credit adjustments, refunds.  (a) If an 
 employer makes an application for a credit adjustment of any 
 amount paid as taxes or interest thereon within four years of 
 the year that the payment was made, and the commissioner 
 determines that the payment or any portion was erroneous, the 
 commissioner shall make an adjustment and issue a credit without 
 interest.  If a credit cannot be used, the commissioner shall 
 refund, without interest, the amount erroneously paid.  The 
 commissioner, on the commissioner's own motion, may make a 
 credit adjustment or refund under this subdivision. 

    (b) If a credit adjustment or refund is denied in whole or 
 in part, a notice of denial shall be sent to the employer by 
 mail or electronic transmission.  Within 30 calendar days after 
 sending of the notice of denial, the employer may appeal.  
 Proceedings on the appeal shall be conducted in accordance with 
 section 268.105. 

    Subd. 8.    Limitation.  Nothing in sections 268.03 to 
 268.23, or any part thereof, shall be construed to authorize any 
 refund of moneys due and payable under the law and rules in 
 effect at the time such moneys were paid. 

    Subd. 9.    Prior decisions.  In the event a final 
 decision on an appeal under section 268.105 determines the 
 amount of taxes due under sections 268.03 to 268.23, then, if 
 the amount, together with interest and penalties, is not paid 
 within 30 days after the decision, the provisions of section 
 268.058 apply.  The commissioner shall proceed thereunder, 
 substituting a certified copy of the final decision in place of 
 the tax report.  A final decision on an appeal under section 
 268.105 is conclusive for all the purposes of sections 268.03 to 
 268.23 except as otherwise provided, and, together with the 
 records therein made, shall be admissible in any subsequent 
 judicial proceeding involving liability for taxes. 

    Subd. 10.    Priorities under legal dissolutions or 
 distributions.  In the event of any distribution of an 
 employer's assets pursuant to an order of any court under the 
 laws of this state, including any receivership, assignment for 
 benefit of creditors, adjudicated insolvency, composition, or 
 similar proceeding, taxes then or thereafter due shall be paid 
 in full prior to all other claims except claims for wages of not 
 more than $250 to each claimant, earned within six months of the 
 commencement of the proceedings.  In the event of an employer's 
 adjudication in bankruptcy, judicially confirmed extension 
 proposal, or composition, under the federal Bankruptcy Act of 
 1898, as amended, taxes then or thereafter due shall be entitled 
 to such priority as is provided in that act for taxes due any 
 state of the United States. 

    HIST: Ex1936 c 2 s 14; 1941 c 554 s 13; 1943 c 650 s 9; 1945 c 
 376 s 13; 1949 c 605 s 12,13; 1951 c 55 s 1; 1953 c 97 s 17; 
 1969 c 9 s 65; 1969 c 567 s 3; 1969 c 854 s 13; 1973 c 254 s 3; 
 1973 c 720 s 73 subds 2,3; 1975 c 108 s 1; 1975 c 302 s 3,4; 
 1975 c 336 s 22,23; 1977 c 430 s 25 subd 1; 1978 c 618 s 2; 1978 
 c 674 s 60; 1980 c 508 s 11-13; 3Sp1981 c 2 art 1 s 33; 1Sp1982 
 c 1 s 34,35; 1983 c 372 s 39; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 
 9 s 75; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 362 s 26; 1987 c 385 s 28-30; 1989 c 
 65 s 12; 1989 c 209 art 2 s 1; 1993 c 67 s 11; 1994 c 483 s 1; 
 1995 c 54 s 13-15; 1996 c 417 s 24,31; 1997 c 66 s 66-69,79,80; 
 1998 c 265 s 14-17,44