2010 Arizona Revised Statutes
Title 42 - Taxation
42-1108 Audit; deficiency assessments

42-1108. Audit; deficiency assessments

A. If a taxpayer fails to file a return required by this title or title 43, or if the department is not satisfied with the return or payment of the amount of tax required to be paid under either title, the department may examine any return, including any books, papers, records or memoranda relating to the return, to determine the correct amount of tax. This examination must occur within the time periods prescribed by section 42-1104 and may be accomplished through a detailed review of transactions or records or by a statistically valid sampling method.

B. The department shall give the taxpayer written notice of its determination of a deficiency by mail, and the deficiency, plus penalties and interest, is final forty-five days from the date of receipt of the notice to the taxpayer unless an appeal is taken to the department. For individual income tax the period is ninety days from the date of mailing. In the case of a joint income tax return, the notice may be a single joint notice mailed to the last known address, but if either spouse notifies the department that separate residences have been established, the department shall mail duplicate originals of the joint notice to each spouse.

C. If a deficiency is determined and the assessment becomes final, the department shall mail notice and demand to the taxpayer for the payment of the deficiency. Notwithstanding section 42-1125, subsection E, the deficiency assessed is due and payable at the expiration of ten days from the date of the notice and demand.

D. A certificate by the department of the mailing of the notices specified in this section is prima facie evidence of the assessment of the deficiency and the giving of the notices.

E. Any amount of tax in excess of that disclosed by the return due to a mathematical error or failure of the taxpayer to properly compute the liability based on the taxable income reported on the return, notice of which has been mailed to the taxpayer, is not a deficiency assessment within the meaning of this section. The taxpayer may not protest or appeal as in the case of a deficiency assessment, based on such notice, and the assessment or collection of the amount of tax erroneously omitted in the return is not prohibited by this article.