Judges: DUANE WOODARD, Attorney General
Filed Date: 1/22/1985
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Alan N. Charnes Executive Director Department of Revenue 1375 Sherman Street, Rm. 486 Denver, Colorado 80261
Dear Mr. Charnes:
This opinion letter is in response to your October 19, 1984 letter, in which you inquired about how the Department of Revenue (department) is to determine the period during which interest is payable on tax refunds.
QUESTION PRESENTED AND CONCLUSION
Your request for an attorney general's opinion presents the question:
If a taxpayer files an amended tax return claiming a refund for overpayment of taxes, is the department required to pay interest on the refund amount even if the refund is paid within 90 days after the due date of the original tax return?
My conclusion is yes. Interest must be paid unless the department refunds the tax overpayment within 90 days after the original return was due, without regard to when the amended return was filed.
ANALYSIS
Two separate statutory provisions direct the department to pay interest on refunds of tax overpayments if the refund is not paid by specified deadlines. Section
The general provision in section
Within ninety days after the last date prescribed for filing the return of such tax or charge, determined without regard to any extension of time for filing the return. . . .
(Emphasis added.) This statutory language expressly makes the 90 day grace period run from the date the tax return was due, not from the filing date of any later amended return.
It is my understanding that for many years the department has had a policy that in the event an original tax return is amended to claim a refund, the department will pay interest on the refund amount from the date of overpayment unless the refund is paid within 90 days after the date the original return was due. The department has promulgated regulations which establish procedures for filing an amended return and for payment of interest on refunds not made within 90 days of the due date of the return.See regulations 21-108 and 21-110,
Reasonable interpretations of state statutes by agencies charged with their enforcement are entitled to deference in the construction of those statutes. Colorado Ass'n of PublicEmployees v. Lamm,
One additional concern is the effect of the more specific provisions for payment of interest and a penalty on untimely refunds of personal income tax, set out at section
This special rule for personal income tax refunds was adopted in 1981 without any amendment to the already existing provisions of section
In this instance the special provisions of section
SUMMARY
The Department of Revenue has adopted a policy requiring that interest be paid on refunds of most taxes unless the refund is paid within 90 days of the date the original tax return was due. Such an interest payment is due even if the refund is claimed on an amended tax return and the department pays the refund within 90 days of the filing of the amended return. This long established policy is a reasonable interpretation of section
Very truly yours,
DUANE WOODARD Attorney General
TAXATION AND REVENUE INTEREST
Section
REVENUE, DEPT. OF
Section