Title 48, Chapter 9, Section 12
( 48-9-12)
(a) In addition to his other duties and responsibilities to
administer this article, the commissioner is empowered and
authorized to do, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Deny or cancel any distributor's or aviation gasoline dealer's
license if the commissioner is of the opinion that the license
application is not filed in good faith or is filed by some person
as a subterfuge for any other person; (2) Cancel any distributor's or aviation gasoline dealer's license
for failure to comply with any provision of this article or with
rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner; (3) Cancel a license upon receipt of a written request from any
distributor or aviation gasoline dealer licensed under this
article to cancel the license issued to the distributor or
aviation gasoline dealer. The distributor or aviation gasoline
dealer shall surrender to the commissioner the license certificate
issued; (4) Cancel the license of a distributor if, upon investigation or
information obtained from the distributor's monthly report, the
commissioner ascertains that any distributor to whom a license has
been issued is no longer engaged in the receipt, use, or sale of
motor fuel and has not been so engaged for a period of six months,
or no longer qualifies as a distributor under this article.
Written notice of the cancellation shall be mailed to the last
known address of the distributor, in which event the license
certificate previously issued to the distributor shall be
surrendered to the commissioner; (5) Reinstate a canceled license when information is provided at a
hearing or otherwise within 30 days of cancellation which
satisfies the commissioner that the license should be reinstated; (6) Decline to approve a refund payment until the applicant has
complied with the laws of this state if in the opinion of the
commissioner the refund application filed by an applicant contains
a false statement or if the applicant is indebted to the state; (7) Suspend the right of the refund privilege of a person for a
term of not more than 12 months if the commissioner concludes that
any retail dealer, any person using gasoline for agricultural
purposes, or any foreign government official has willfully
violated this article or has willfully failed to comply with the
rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner for the
administration of this article; (8) Waive the bond and the report required of a licensed
distributor of fuel oils, compressed petroleum gas, or special
fuel if the distributor has no taxable sales of the fuel and his
receipts do not exceed 12,000 gallons per year and with respect to
such distributors waive requirements for record keeping on sales
that do not exceed 25 gallons in one transaction; (9) Enter into agreements with appropriate authorities of other
jurisdictions having statutes similar to this article for the
cooperative audit of any taxpayer's reports and refunds. In
performing the audits or parts of audits, the officers and
employees of other jurisdictions shall be deemed authorized agents
of the commissioner for the agreed upon purpose; and (10) Appoint revenue agents for the enforcement of this article.
The appointed agents shall have all powers of a police officer of
this state when engaged in the enforcement of this article. (b) The commissioner shall notify the distributor or aviation
gasoline dealer in writing of any cancellation of a license as
provided in subsection (a) of this Code section by certified mail or
statutory overnight delivery to the last known address of the
distributor or aviation gasoline dealer appearing in the files of
the commissioner. (c) In the event that the license of any distributor is canceled by
the commissioner under the authority of this article, the
commissioner shall hold the bonds of the distributor for a period of
three years against any liabilities of the distributor. In no event
shall any bonds surrendered remove any liability. (d) The commissioner shall make the motor fuel tax records available
for inspection by the public at reasonable times. The commissioner
may charge a fee for special requests of prepared information based
on the cost to prepare the information. (e) When any distributor neglects or refuses to file the required
reports or fails to maintain auditable records that account for tax
exemptions taken on motor fuel as required by this article or files
an incorrect or fraudulent report, the commissioner or his
authorized agents shall determine from the best information
available the number of gallons of motor fuel to be taxed. The
commissioner shall impose the tax, penalty, and interest due.
Estimates by the commissioner or his authorized agents shall be
prima-facie evidence of the claim of the state and the burden of
proof to establish the accountability of motor fuel shall be on the
distributor to show that the assessment is incorrect and contrary to
law. (f) Before the expiration of the time prescribed by this article for
assessments and refunds of taxes, the commissioner or his delegates
may enter into an agreement in writing with the taxpayer to extend
such time. The period so agreed upon may be extended by subsequent
agreements made in writing before the expiration of the period
previously agreed upon. (g) The commissioner shall prepare and furnish to each known selling
licensed distributor a list showing the name and address of each
licensed distributor of motor fuels as of the beginning of each
fiscal year and shall thereafter during each year supplement the
list monthly. |