Ezel / Tax Rulings / VA
VA P.D. 09-183 Retail Sales and Use Tax 2009-12-11

Was a Virginia sales-tax appeal timely when it was dated September 1 after an August 31 deadline?

Short answer: No. The assessment was issued June 2, 2009, making August 31 the deadline for applying to the Tax Commissioner. The taxpayer's correspondence was dated September 1 and received September 2. Virginia held the appeal untimely and barred by the statute of limitations. The assessment was deemed correct as issued and collection resumed on the unpaid bill; the short ruling did not address the underlying audit merits.

Apply this to your situation

This page answers the general question as of 2009. Ezel answers yours, under current Virginia tax law, with citations.

Currency note: this ruling is from 2009
Subsequent statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later rulings may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, rate, or position mentioned here.
Disclaimer: This is an official Virginia Tax Commissioner determination on the deadline for one 2009 sales-tax appeal. It did not decide the audit merits. The result depended on the then-applicable 90-day period, an August 31 deadline, and correspondence dated and received afterward; current deadlines and filing methods should be verified. This summary is informational only and is not legal or tax advice.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official state tax ruling. The original ruling (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.
View original ruling (PDF)

Subject

Appeal dated after the 90-day deadline was time-barred

Plain-English summary

Virginia barred the appeal because it was dated and received after the 90-day deadline. The sales-and-use-tax assessment was issued June 2, 2009, so an application to the Tax Commissioner was due August 31.

The taxpayer's correspondence was dated September 1 and arrived September 2. The ruling treated the appeal as untimely, deemed the assessment correct as issued, and allowed collection to resume on the unpaid balance.

The short document provides no analysis of the underlying March 2006-February 2009 audit and supports only the procedural result.

Common questions

When was the appeal due?

August 31, 2009.

When was it submitted?

It was dated September 1 and received September 2.

What happened next?

The assessment stood and collection resumed.

Citations and references

  • Va. Code § 58.1-1821.

Source

Original ruling text

December 11, 2009

Re: § 58.1-1821 Application: Retail Sales and Use Tax

Dear **l:

This is in response to your correspondence in which you seek correction of the retail sales and use tax assessment issued to ***. (the “Taxpayer”) for the period March 2006 through February 2009.

Virginia Code § 58.1-1821 provides that “[a]ny person assessed with any tax administered by the Department of Taxation may, within ninety days from the date of such assessment, apply for relief to the Tax Commissioner.” In this case, the assessment was issued on June 2, 2009. Pursuant to Va. Code § 58.1-1821, the Taxpayer was required to submit its appeal to the Tax Commissioner by August 31, 2009. The Taxpayer’s correspondence is dated September 1, 2009, and was received on September 2, 2009. The Taxpayer’s appeal was not timely filed and is barred by the statute of limitations.

Based on the foregoing, the assessment is deemed correct as issued and collection action will resume on the unpaid bill. If you have any questions about this response, you may contact **in the Department’s Office of Tax Policy, Appeals and Rulings, at **.

Sincerely,

Janie E. Bowen

Tax Commissioner

AR/1-381640884

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