Section 1.12 - Position Letter(a) Contents of Position Letter. The Tax Hearings Attorney will review the Statement of Grounds, documentary evidence, and any additional evidence received from the taxpayer and issue a Position Letter to the taxpayer. The Position Letter will accept or reject, in whole or in part, each contention of the taxpayer, and state the AHS's position on all disputed issues raised by the taxpayer, such as taxability, penalty and interest waiver, and whether the taxpayer is an individual or entity liable for the assessment of tax at issue.(b) Selection form. The Position Letter will include a selection form for the taxpayer to accept or reject the Position Letter. See § 1.13 of this title (relating to Taxpayer's Acceptance or Rejection of Position Letter, and Reply to Position Letter).(c) Notice of demand. Pursuant to Tax Code, § 111.105(e), the Tax Hearings Attorney may issue with the Position Letter a written notice of demand that all documentary evidence to support facts or contentions related to a taxpayer's claim for refund be produced before the expiration of a specified date in the notice. The specified date may not be less than 180 days from the date of the original refund claim, and not less than 60 days from the date of the notice. The deadline to respond to the notice of demand may be extended by the Tax Hearings Attorney. A taxpayer who fails to produce the requested documents by the specified date may not introduce in evidence any of the documents that were not timely produced. The assigned ALJ cannot consider in SOAH proceedings documents that were not timely produced. This section is only applicable to the administrative hearing and has no effect on a judicial proceeding pending under Tax Code, Chapter 112. See Tax Code, § 111.105(e). The agency may also issue a notice of demand pursuant to Tax Code, § 111.105(e) at other stages of the contested case process before or after the issuance of a Position Letter.(d) Taxpayer's option to set a Position Letter deadline. After a contested case is assigned, the Tax Hearings Attorney will issue an introductory letter providing contact information and other information concerning the hearings process. If the Tax Hearings Attorney does not issue the Position Letter within 60 days after the date of the introductory letter, the taxpayer may submit a written request to the Tax Hearings Attorney to issue a Position Letter within 45 days of the receipt of the request. The Tax Hearings Attorney will issue a Position Letter within the 45-day deadline, obtain an agreed extension of the deadline to issue the Position Letter, or confer with the taxpayer concerning the docketing of the case at SOAH consistent with § 1.20 of this title (relating to Docketing Oral and Written Submission Hearings).(e) Modification or amendment of the Position Letter. If the Position Letter is modified or amended, the taxpayer must accept or reject the modified or amended Position Letter, in whole or in part, within 45 days after the day the modified or amended Position Letter is dated, unless an extension is granted. If the Position Letter includes a Notice of Demand consistent with subsection (c) of this section, the date to respond to the Notice of Demand will correspond to the date, including any extension thereof, by which the taxpayer must accept or reject the modified or amended Position Letter.34 Tex. Admin. Code § 1.12
Adopted by Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 50, December 14, 2018, TexReg 8126, eff. 1/1/2019