Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 145-7-9 - Administration and Collection of Project Certification Fees9.1. Audits. The West Virginia Development Office or the Department of Tax and Revenue, or both, may initiate and carry out investigations or audits of a recipient of an eligible contribution, an eligible taxpayer, or a project transferee to determine whether the project certification fee imposed by this Act has been paid in accordance with the requirements of this Act. 9.2. Notice and Demand for Payment. When a project certification fee is not timely paid, the director of the Development Office may issue a written demand for payment of the fee, plus interest, to the project transferee. This notice must be delivered by certified mail or by personal service. A penalty for failure to timely pay the project certification fee may also be imposed. The penalty may not exceed twenty percent of the project certification fee and interest due and may be imposed, adjusted, withdrawn or waived, in whole or in part, at the sole discretion of the director of the Development Office. Payment of the project certification fee and interest due are not subject to waiver. The notice and demand for payment shall notify the project transferee of the opportunity to show that the project certification fee is not due and owing. 9.3. Notice of Pending Sanctions. When the project transferee fails to pay the amount due, as stated in the written notice and demand for payment, within 30 days after service of such notice and demand, and the project transferee fails to provide to the satisfaction of the director proof that the fee is not due and owing, the director shall serve upon the project transferee a notice of pending sanctions. If the project transferee is not the applicant for the project certification, an informational copy of the notice of pending sanctions shall also be served upon the applicant for the project certification. Notice of pending sanctions shall be served on the project transferee in the same manner as an assessment of tax is served under the West Virginia Tax Procedures and Administration Act. The notice of pending sanctions shall state the sanctions to be applied, the effective date of the sanctions, with specific statements regarding whether the sanction will be applied retroactively, in whole or in part, and the commencement and termination dates for any suspension of certification or temporary disqualification of any project transferee, neighborhood organization, qualified charitable organization, charitable organization or other organization, entity or person to be disqualified from participating in a certified project. The notice of pending sanctions shall state that sanctions will be imposed 60 days after service of the notice of proposed sanctions upon the delinquent project transferee, unless the amount due and owing, plus interest and penalties, is paid in full. 9.4. Appeals. The project transferee may appeal a notice of proposed sanctions as if the notice were a notice of assessment of tax under the West Virginia Tax Procedure and Administration Act [W. Va. Code § 11-10-1, et seq.], and the matter or appeal is subject to the procedures set forth in the Tax Procedures Act. The burden of proof is on the project transferee to prove that the project certification fee and associated interest and penalties are not due and owing. The review on appeal is limited to the following: 9.4.1. The issue of whether a failure to timely pay the project certification fee or any portion thereof has occurred, the time period or periods over which the failure occurred, and whether the failure continues to occur;9.4.2. The amount of the project certification fee and interest due; and9.4.3. The mathematical and methodological accuracy of the computation of the project certification fee, interest and penalties.9.5. Confidentiality. No information, document, or proceeding brought, relating to the liability of any project transferee for the project certification fee, interest or penalties, is subject to the confidentiality provisions of the West Virginia Tax Procedure and Administration Act or any other confidentiality provision of the West Virginia Code. However, any proceeding relating to any amount of tax due or the recapture of tax credits taken under this Act or any adjustment of the amount of credit taken is subject to the confidentiality rules in the Tax Procedures Act and to all other applicable statutory tax confidentiality provisions of the West Virginia Code. 9.6. Finality of Notice of Pending Sanctions. The notice of pending sanctions becomes final 60 days after it is served upon the project transferee unless an appeal is filed within that period. When a determination that a project transferee has failed to timely pay the project certification fee, or any part thereof, becomes final, the sanctions described in the notice of pending sanctions shall apply as of the date set forth in the notice of pending sanctions, unless the amount due, including interest and penalties, is paid within 30 days after the date on which the determination becomes final. Sanctions for failure to timely pay the project certification fee may be imposed, adjusted, withdrawn or waived, in whole or in part, at the sole discretion of the director of the Development Office.