2011 Wyoming Statutes
TITLE 39 - TAXATION AND REVENUE
CHAPTER 11 - ADMINISTRATION
39-11-102. Administration; confidentiality; department of revenue.

(a) Taxpayer rights. The following provisions shall apply to this act:

(i) The department shall publish and make available a list of taxpayer rights in the area of state tax administration and collection, written in plain language, which includes the following rights:

(A) A right to taxpayer information services including a location where taxpayers may request copies of public records or obtain explanations of billings and information about their rights and responsibilities;

(B) A right to assurance that no employee of the state shall receive a bonus, be promoted or in any way rewarded on the basis of the amount of assessments or collections from taxpayers;

(C) A right to confidentiality as to records protected against disclosure by statute;

(D) A right, if a tax has accrued penalty and interest because the taxpayer relied on erroneous written information or written answers from the state, that the penalty and interest shall not be assessed, provided that the pertinent facts and circumstances disclosed by the taxpayer were substantially correct and complete;

(E) A right to enter into installment payment agreements on tax assessments for tax liabilities where repayment requirements are met and where payment in a lump sum would cause severe inconvenience to the taxpayer;

(F) A right to assessment notices that describe in plain terms the basis for assessments and describe the procedures for appeal.

(ii) Any taxpayer may bring an action to enjoin any violation of the rights provided by paragraph (i) of this subsection. The list of taxpayer rights and enforcement provisions provided in this section are supplemental to other rights provided by law.

(b) The department of revenue is created pursuant to W.S. 9-2-2007. The governor shall appoint a director who shall exercise all management authority over agency personnel. The director may formulate the policies and programs to be carried out by the department through its respective divisions and adopt suitable rules and regulations pursuant to the provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.

(c) In addition to the other powers and duties imposed by law, the department shall:

(i) Coordinate collection of state taxes, assessments, licenses, fees and other monies as designated by law;

(ii) Insure specialized service for tax enforcements, through establishment and maintenance of uniformity in definition, regulation, return and payment;

(iii) Insure avoidance of duplication in state facilities for tax collections that involve seasonal or occasional increases of staff, duplication of audits and wasteful travel expenses;

(iv) Safeguard tax and other collections wherever received until duly deposited in the state treasury;

(v) Provide an advisory service on fiscal status, processes and needs of state government, including periodic reports on payments, receipts and debts;

(vi) Designate divisions to enforce the laws of this state relating to collections of taxes, fees and all monies, and to delegate the authority necessary to the heads of the divisions to enforce state laws;

(vii) Prescribe standard procedures for receiving, receipting, safeguarding and periodically reporting all state revenue receipts, whether current, delinquent, penalty, interest, refunds or otherwise, and the amounts, kinds and terms of items, either collected or still outstanding, to be summarized, studied and reported;

(viii) Specify the amount of land for mines or mining claims to which the ad valorem tax or assessment of coal lands provisions of the constitution apply. For purposes of this paragraph, all real and tangible personal property used underground in mining or used within the well in oil or gas exploration or production which historically has not been assessed and taxed based on the 1941 and 1963 attorney general opinions and which remains underground until its value is consumed in the production of the mineral shall be considered part of the mine or mining claim to which the ad valorem tax applies. The taxpayer may remove the equipment from underground for repair or to meet statutory or regulatory requirements, and such removal shall not be considered by the assessor in determining whether the property shall be separately assessed. The following apply to underground equipment:

(A) Equipment which is permanently underground is not subject to separate assessment;

(B) Equipment which is intended or otherwise designed to be consumed underground in the production of the mineral shall not be separately assessed for taxation during the normal course of mining or oil or gas exploration or production;

(C) Except as provided by this paragraph, equipment which is removed from underground shall be treated as tangible personal property and assessed accordingly.

(ix) Require persons to furnish information concerning all relevant matters pertaining to property owned by them for purposes of taxation;

(x) Furnish the governor all information he may require relative to tax matters, and annually transmit to the governor on or before the third Monday of December and to each member of the legislature on or before the second Tuesday in January, the report of the department for the year showing in tabulated form all taxable property in the state and its value;

(xi) Require the attorney general or district attorneys in their respective districts to assist in the commencement and prosecution of actions and proceedings for penalties, forfeitures, removals and punishments for violations of the laws of the state respecting the assessment and taxation of property, and to represent the department or board in any litigation in which they may become involved in the discharge of their duties;

(xii) Decide all questions that may arise with reference to the construction of any statute affecting the assessment, levy and collection of taxes, in accordance with the rules, regulations, orders and instructions prescribed by the department;

(xiii) Institute or cause to be instituted any proceedings, either civil or criminal, provided by law as a punishment for the neglect, failure or refusal to obey any lawful requirement or order by the department, or to prevent the violation or disobedience of any lawful requirement or order, or to compel their enforcement;

(xiv) Prescribe forms for uniform schedules, consistent with W.S. 39-13-103(b)(viii), rolls and other documents, and draft and require the use of a standard form of tax notice by each of the several counties to uniformly designate, detail and total the levies and valuations established within the counties;

(xv) Prescribe the system of establishing the fair market value of all property valued for property taxation to ensure that all property within a class is uniformly valued. The county assessor and the facilities of his office, together with the deputy assessors and clerical assistants in each county, at the direction of the department, shall give full aid in the installation of the prescribed system in the county. The county shall also furnish the necessary supplies and records for installing the system;

(xvi) Confer with, advise and give necessary instructions and directions to county assessors as to their duties under the laws of the state. The department or its designee shall officially visit each county of the state annually and inquire into the method of assessment and taxation and ascertain whether the assessors faithfully discharge their duties, particularly as to their compliance with the laws requiring the assessment of all property not exempt from taxation;

(xvii) Direct proceedings, actions and prosecutions to be instituted to enforce the laws relating to the liability and punishment of persons for failure or neglect to comply with the provisions of the laws of this state governing the return, assessment and taxation of property, and cause complaints to be made against county assessors, members of county boards of equalization, or any other assessing or taxing officers, to the proper authority, for their removal from office for misconduct or neglect of duty;

(xviii) Monitor the work in progress in the office of each county assessor to determine that procedures and formulae promulgated by the department are being strictly observed and applied;

(xix) Promulgate rules and regulations consistent with the provisions hereof as provided by the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to the enforcement of the provisions of any or all tax and other revenue measures which are administered by the department;

(xx) Promulgate rules and regulations under which the department may offset any taxes or fees due and payable under title 39, Wyoming statutes and any taxes or fees due and payable to a state agency under title 31, Wyoming statutes, from any other funds owed to the taxpayer by the state or any political subdivision thereof. All state agencies and political subdivisions in Wyoming are subject to these rules with regard to the department's offset authority;

(xxi) Map and keep record of the geographical boundaries for all governmental entities with authority to levy property taxes, for administration of tax districts;

(xxii) Map and keep record of the geographical boundaries for all special districts in the state;

(xxiii) Review boundaries for proposed special districts pursuant to W.S. 22-29-109(a);

(xxiv) Promulgate rules and regulations as provided by the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to map and keep record of the geographical boundaries for all special districts and governmental entities with the authority to levy or require the levy of property taxes. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no special district or governmental entity with authority to levy or require the levy of property taxes shall levy any property taxes unless in compliance with the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this subsection; and

(xxv) Promulgate rules and regulations as provided by the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act to be followed by all county assessors to ensure the statistical quality and fairness of assessed values of residential properties, improved and unimproved, computed using sales comparison methods, and which require county assessors to provide statistical parameter data annually to the state board of equalization to demonstrate compliance with the rules. The rules shall specifically address any adjustments made by a county assessor in input data to, or assessed values obtained from, the county's computer assisted mass appraisal system, the method of establishing strata for sales ratio studies, the adequacy of the number of arms-length sales to be used in any sales comparison analyses, and the use of appropriate statistical tests to protect against the statistical likelihood that any property in any stratum is over assessed. The rules shall include requirements for the format and quality of a written explanation of the county assessor's residential assessment methodology, including an explanation and description of the parameters used to develop any stratification applied to a class of property as well as any market adjustment factors utilized to arrive at a fair market value for a property. The written explanations required to be maintained by the county assessor shall be public records available to a taxpayer upon request.

(d) The following shall be adopted in accordance with the requirements and procedures of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act:

(i) Adoption of any manual, formula, method or system to be used to determine the fair market value of property for tax purposes;

(ii) Adoption of standards, guidelines, criteria or methods to implement paragraph (c)(xv) of this section.

(e) The enumeration of specific actions or decisions which must be implemented by a properly adopted rule set forth in subsection (d) of this section is not exclusive and does not limit in any way the applicability of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act to other actions or decisions of the department.