2017 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 47 - Revenue and Taxation
RS 47:337.51 - Notice of assessment and right to appeal

§337.51. Notice of assessment and right to appeal

            A.(1) Having assessed the amount determined to be due, the collector shall send a notice by certified mail to the taxpayer against whom the assessment is imposed at the address given in the last report filed by the taxpayer, or to any address obtainable from any private entity which will provide such address free of charge or from any federal, state, or local government entity, including but not limited to the United States Postal Service or from the United States Postal Service certified software. This notice shall inform the taxpayer of the assessment and that he has thirty calendar days from the date of the notice to do any of the following:

            (a) Pay the amount of the assessment.

            (b) Appeal to the Board of Tax Appeals for redetermination of the assessment.

            (c) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63, and then either file suit or file a petition with the Board of Tax Appeals, all as provided for in that Section.

            (2) If no report has been timely filed, the collector shall send a notice by certified mail to the taxpayer against whom the assessment is imposed at any address obtainable from any private entity which will provide such address free of charge or from any federal, state, or local government entity, including but not limited to the United States Postal Service or from the United States Postal Service certified software. This notice shall inform the taxpayer of the assessment and that he has thirty calendar days from the date of the notice to do either of the following:

            (a) Pay the amount of the assessment.

            (b) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63 and then either file suit or file a petition with the Board of Tax Appeals, all as provided for in that Section.

            (3) If the taxpayer has not paid under protest in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:337.63, or pursued an alternative remedy in accordance with R.S. 47:337.64, or filed an appeal with the Board of Tax Appeals within the thirty-day period provided for in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the assessment shall be final and shall be collectible by distraint and sale as provided in this Part. If an appeal for a redetermination of the assessment has been timely and properly filed, the assessment shall not be collectible by distraint and sale until such time as the assessment has been redetermined or affirmed by the Board of Tax Appeals or the court which last reviews the matter.

            B. If any dealer disputes any findings or assessment of the collector, he may, within thirty days of the receipt of notice of the assessment or finding, do any of the following:

            (1)(a) File an appeal from the decision of the collector directed to the Board of Tax Appeals.

            (b) Pay under protest in accordance with R.S. 47:337.63, and either file suit as provided for in that Section, or file a petition with the Board of Tax Appeals, as provided in that Section.

            (2) This Section shall afford a legal remedy and right of action in the Board of Tax Appeals, or in any state, city, or federal court having jurisdiction of the parties and subject matter for a full and complete adjudication of any and all questions arising in the enforcement of the local ordinance and this Chapter as to the legality of any tax accrued or accruing or the method of enforcement thereof. If an appeal for a redetermination of the assessment has been timely and properly filed with the Board of Tax Appeals pursuant to Subparagraph (1)(a) of this Subsection, the assessment shall not be collectible by distraint and sale until the assessment has been redetermined or affirmed by the Board of Tax Appeals or the court which last reviews the matter.

            (3) A notice of tax due issued pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 47:337.48 shall not constitute a finding for purposes of this Subsection.

            (4) A collector may send to a dealer by regular mail a letter addressed in the same manner as provided in Subsection A of this Section to advise the dealer that the failure to collect certified or registered mail sent by the collector may result in the loss of appeal rights concerning the uncollected notice of assessment. If the collector mails this letter on the same date as the collector mails a notice of assessment, any notice of assessment returned to the collector because a dealer failed to collect it following attempted delivery by the United States Postal Service shall be deemed to have been received by the dealer for the purposes of this Subsection on the date that the United States Postal Service record indicates that the United States Postal Service first attempted to deliver the notice of assessment to the dealer. A certificate of mailing or other proof of mailing from the United States Postal Service shall establish that this letter was transmitted by regular mail.

            C.(1) No assessment made by the collector shall be final if it is determined that the assessment was based on an error of fact or of law. An "error of fact" for this purpose means facts material to the assessment assumed by the collector at the time of the assessment to be true but which subsequently are determined by the collector to be false. "Error of law" for this purpose means that in making the assessment the collector applied the law contrary to the construction followed by the collector in making other assessments.

            (2) The determination of an error of fact or of law under this Subsection shall be solely that of the collector, and no action against the collector with respect to the determination shall be brought in any court, including the Board of Tax Appeals, and no court shall have jurisdiction of any such action, it being the intent of this Subsection only to permit the collector to correct manifest errors of fact or in the application of the law made by the collector in making the assessment; however, all reductions of assessments based on such errors, except estimated assessments made due to the failure of the taxpayer to file a proper tax return, must be approved and signed by the collector. Estimated assessments made due to the failure of the taxpayer to file a proper tax return may be corrected by the acceptance of the proper tax return and must be approved by the collector or his designee.

            Acts 2003, No. 73, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2010, No. 1003, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2014, No. 640, §2, eff. June 12, 2014; Acts 2015, No. 210, §1, eff. June 23, 2015.