Sec. 12-3a. Penalty Review Committee. Waiver of penalties; appeals.
Sec. 12-3a. Penalty Review Committee. Waiver of penalties; appeals. (a) There
is created a Penalty Review Committee which shall consist of the State Comptroller or
an employee of the office of the State Comptroller designated by said Comptroller, the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management or an employee of the Office of
Policy and Management designated by said secretary and the Commissioner of Revenue
Services or an employee of the Department of Revenue Services designated by said
commissioner. Said committee shall meet monthly or as often as necessary to approve
any waiver of penalty which the Commissioner of Revenue Services, or the executive
director of the Division of Special Revenue, is authorized to waive in accordance with
this title which is in excess of five hundred dollars. A majority vote of the committee
shall be required for approval of such waiver.
(b) An itemized statement of all waivers approved under this section shall be available to the public for inspection by any person.
(c) The Penalty Review Committee created pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 establishing guidelines for the
waiver of any penalty in excess of five hundred dollars.
(d) Any person aggrieved by the action of the Penalty Review Committee may,
within one month after notice of such action is delivered or mailed to such person, appeal
therefrom to the superior court for the judicial district of New Britain, which shall be
accompanied by a citation to the members of said committee to appear before said court.
Such citation shall be signed by the same authority, and such appeal shall be returnable
at the same time and served and returned in the same manner as is required in case of
a summons in a civil action. The authority issuing the citation shall take from the appellant a bond or recognizance to the state of Connecticut with surety to prosecute the
appeal to effect and to comply with the orders and decrees of the court in the premises.
Such appeals shall be preferred cases, to be heard, unless cause appears to the contrary,
at the first session, by the court or by a committee appointed by it. Said court may grant
such relief as may be equitable. If the appeal is without probable cause, the court may
tax double or triple costs, as the case demands; and, upon all such appeals which may
be denied, costs may be taxed against the appellant at the discretion of the court, but no
costs shall be taxed against the state.
(P.A. 74-175, S. 1, 2; P.A. 77-603, S. 10, 125; 77-614, S. 19, 139, 610; P.A. 82-163, S. 5, 6; P.A. 87-84, S. 3, 4; P.A.
88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 94-2; P.A. 95-132, S. 1, 5; 95-220, S. 4-6; P.A. 96-221,
S. 16, 25; P.A. 97-243, S. 2, 67; P.A. 99-215, S. 24, 29.)
History: P.A. 77-603 amended Subsec. (c) to require that appeals be taken in accordance with Sec. 4-183 except that
venue is in county or judicial district where town of residence located rather than set forth in Sec. 12-554; P.A. 77-614
substituted secretary of the office of policy and management for commissioner of finance and control and, effective January
1, 1979, substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner; P.A. 82-163 amended Subsec. (a) to allow
the executive director of the division of special revenue to waive penalties; P.A. 87-84 added a new Subsec. (c) requiring
tax review committee to adopt regulations establishing guidelines for waiver of any penalty in excess of $100 and designated
former Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d); P.A. 94-2 amended Subsec. (a) by increasing the amount of the penalty which the
committee may waive from $100 to $500; P.A. 95-132 changed the name from the Tax Review Committee to the Penalty
Review Committee, amended Subsec. (c) to increase the amount of penalty subject to guidelines for waiver from $100 to
$500, and amended Subsec. (d) to provide those appealing a decision of the committee to the Superior Court a trial de
novo rather than limiting those appellants to an appeal on the record, effective June 7, 1995 (Revisor's note: P.A. 88-230,
90-98, 93-142 and 95-220 authorized substitution of "judicial district of Hartford" for "judicial district of Hartford-New
Britain" in public and special acts of 1995, effective September 1, 1998); P.A. 96-221 amended Subsec. (b) to delete
inclusion in published report under Sec. 4-60 and to require that statements be available for public inspection, effective
July 1, 1996; P.A. 97-243 amended Subsec. (a) to clarify that each member of the committee may designate an employee
to serve on the committee in his place, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-215 replaced "judicial district of Hartford" with
"judicial district of New Britain" in Subsec. (d), effective June 29, 1999.
Cited. 187 C. 581.
Cited. 44 CS 297.