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(A) At or before the commencement of an audit, the Tax Administrator shall provide to the taxpayer a written description of the roles of the Tax Administrator and of the taxpayer during the audit and a statement of the taxpayer's rights, including any right to obtain a refund of an overpayment of a tax. At or before the commencement of an audit, the Tax Administrator shall inform the taxpayer when the audit is considered to have commenced.
(B) Except in cases involving suspected criminal activity, the Tax Administrator shall conduct an audit of a taxpayer during regular business hours and after providing reasonable notice to the taxpayer. A taxpayer who is unable to comply with a proposed time for an audit on the grounds that the proposed time would cause inconvenience or hardship must offer reasonable alternative dates for the audit.
(C) At all stages of an audit by the Tax Administrator, a taxpayer is entitled to be assisted or represented by an attorney, accountant, bookkeeper, or other tax practitioner. The Tax Administrator shall prescribe a form by which a taxpayer may designate such a person to assist or represent the taxpayer in the conduct of any proceedings resulting from actions by the Tax Administrator. If a taxpayer has not submitted such a form, the Tax Administrator may accept other evidence, as the Tax Administrator considers appropriate, that a person is the authorized representative of a taxpayer.
A taxpayer may refuse to answer any questions asked by the person conducting an audit until the taxpayer has an opportunity to consult with the taxpayer's attorney, accountant, bookkeeper, or other tax practitioner.
This division does not authorize the practice of law by a person who is not an attorney.
(D) A taxpayer may record, electronically or otherwise, the audit examination.
(E) The failure of the Tax Administrator to comply with a provision of this section shall neither excuse a taxpayer from payment of any taxes owed by the taxpayer nor cure any procedural defect in a taxpayer's case.
(F) If the Tax Administrator fails to substantially comply with the provisions of this section, the Tax Administrator, upon application by the taxpayer, shall excuse the taxpayer from penalties and interest. (Ord. 22-15. Passed 10-29-15.)
(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Last known address" means the address the Tax Administrator has at the time a document is originally sent by certified mail, or any address the Tax Administrator can ascertain using reasonable means such as the use of a change of address service offered by the postal service or an authorized delivery service under Section 5703.056 of the Ohio Revised Code.
(2) "Undeliverable address" means an address to which the postal service or an authorized delivery service under Section 5703.056 of the Ohio Revised Code is not able to deliver an assessment of the Tax Administrator, except when the reason for non-delivery is because the addressee fails to acknowledge or accept the assessment.
(B) Subject to division (C) of this section, a copy of each assessment shall be served upon the person affected thereby either by personal service, by certified mail, or by a delivery service authorized under Section 5703.056 of the Ohio Revised Code. With the permission of the person affected by an assessment, the Tax Administrator may deliver the assessment through alternative means as provided in this section, including, but not limited to, delivery by secure electronic mail.
(C) (1) (a) If certified mail is returned because of an undeliverable address, a Tax Administrator shall utilize reasonable means to ascertain a new last known address, including the use of a change of address service offered by the postal service or an authorized delivery service under Section 5703.056 of the Ohio Revised Code. If the Tax Administrator is unable to ascertain a new last known address, the assessment shall be sent by ordinary mail and considered served. If the ordinary mail is subsequently returned because of an undeliverable address, the assessment remains appealable within 60 days after the assessment's postmark.
(b) Once the Tax Administrator or other Village official, or the designee of either, serves an assessment on the person to whom the assessment is directed, the person may protest the ruling of that assessment by filing an appeal with the local board of tax review within 60 days after the receipt of service. The delivery of an assessment of the Tax Administrator under division (C)(1)(a) of this section is prima facie evidence that delivery is complete and that the assessment is served.
(2) If mailing of an assessment by a Tax Administrator by certified mail is returned for some cause other than an undeliverable address, the Tax Administrator shall resend the assessment by ordinary mail. The assessment shall show the date the Tax Administrator sends the assessment and include the following statement:
"This assessment is deemed to be served on the addressee under applicable law ten days from the date this assessment was mailed by the Tax Administrator as shown on the assessment, and all periods within which an appeal may be filed apply from and after that date."
Unless the mailing is returned because of an undeliverable address, the mailing of that information is prima facie evidence that delivery of the assessment was completed ten days after the Tax Administrator sent the assessment by ordinary mail and that the assessment was served.
If the ordinary mail is subsequently returned because of an undeliverable address, the Tax Administrator shall proceed under division (C)(1)(a) of this section. A person may challenge the presumption of delivery and service under this division in accordance with division (D) of this section.
(D) (1) A person disputing the presumption of delivery and service under division (C) of this section bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the address to which the assessment was sent by certified mail was not an address with which the person was associated at the time the Tax Administrator originally mailed the assessment. For the purposes of this section, a person is associated with an address at the time the Tax Administrator originally mailed the assessment if, at that time, the person was residing, receiving legal documents, or conducting business at the address; or if, before that time, the person had conducted business at the address and, when the assessment was mailed, the person's agent or the person's affiliate was conducting business at the address. For the purposes of this section, a person's affiliate is any other person that, at the time the assessment was mailed, owned or controlled at least 20 percent, as determined by voting rights, of the addressee's business.
(2) If a person elects to appeal an assessment on the basis described in division (D)(1) of this section, and if that assessment is subject to collection and is not otherwise appealable, the person must do so within 60 days after the initial contact by the Tax Administrator or other Village official, or the designee of either, with the person. Nothing in this division prevents the Tax Administrator or other official from entering into a compromise with the person if the person does not actually file such an appeal with the local board of tax review.
(E) Nothing in this section prohibits the Tax Administrator or the Tax Administrator's designee from delivering an assessment by a Tax Administrator by personal service.
(F) Collection actions taken upon any assessment being appealed under division (C)(1)(b) of this section, including those on which a claim has been delivered for collection, shall be stayed upon the pendency of an appeal under this section.
(G) Additional regulations as detailed in the Rules and Regulations shall apply.
(Ord. 22-15. Passed 10-29-15.)
(A) As used in this section, "claim" means a claim for an amount payable to the Village that arises pursuant to the Village's income tax imposed in accordance with this Chapter.
(B) Nothing in this Chapter prohibits a Tax Administrator from doing either of the following if such action is in the best interests of the municipal corporation:
(1) Compromise a claim;
(2) Extend for a reasonable period the time for payment of a claim by agreeing to accept monthly or other periodic payments.
(C) The Tax Administrator's rejection of a compromise or payment-over-time agreement proposed by a person with respect to a claim shall not be appealable.
(D) A compromise or payment-over-time agreement with respect to a claim shall be binding upon and shall be to the benefit of only the parties to the compromise or agreement, and shall not eliminate or otherwise affect the liability of any other person.
(E) A compromise or payment-over-time agreement with respect to a claim shall be void if the taxpayer defaults under the compromise or agreement or if the compromise or agreement was obtained by fraud or by misrepresentation of a material fact. Any amount that was due before the compromise or agreement and that is unpaid shall remain due, and any penalties or interest that would have accrued in the absence of the compromise or agreement shall continue to accrue and be due.
(Ord. 22-15. Passed 10-29-15.)
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