(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 in excess of five thousand dollars, which the Commissioner of Revenue Services is authorized to waive in accordance with this title, or which the Commissioner of Consumer Protection is authorized to waive in accordance with chapter 226. 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 accordance with this section.
(d) Any person aggrieved by the action of the Penalty Review Committee may, not later than thirty days 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; P.A. 11-51, S. 182; P.A. 13-150, S. 1; P.A. 19-186, S. 10.)
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; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “executive director of the Division of Special Revenue” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Consumer Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-150 increased threshold for committee approval of waiver from $500 to $1,000 and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 19-186 amended Subsec. (a) to increase threshold for committee approval of waiver from $1,000 to $5,000, amended Subsec. (c) to make a conforming change, amended Subsec. (d) to replace “within one month” with “not later than thirty days”, and made technical changes, effective July 8, 2019.