(a) Any motor carrier aggrieved by any act of the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized agent under this chapter may apply to the commissioner, in writing, not later than sixty days after notification of any such act of the commissioner is delivered or mailed to the motor carrier, for a hearing and a correction of the amount of any tax, penalty or interest, setting forth reasons why such hearing should be granted and the amount by which such tax, penalty or interest should be reduced. The commissioner shall promptly consider each such application and may grant or deny the hearing requested. If the hearing is denied, the applicant shall be notified forthwith. If it is granted, the commissioner shall notify the applicant of the time and place fixed for such hearing. After such hearing the commissioner may make such order in the premises as appears to the commissioner just and lawful and shall furnish a copy of such order to the applicant. The commissioner may, by notice in writing, at any time within three years after the date when any return of any taxpayer has been due, order a hearing on the commissioner's own initiative and require the taxpayer or any individual whom the commissioner believes to be in possession of relevant information concerning the taxpayer to appear before the commissioner or the commissioner's authorized agent with any specified books of account, papers or other documents, for examination under oath.
(b) Any motor carrier aggrieved because of any order, decision, determination or disallowance of the commissioner made under this chapter may, not later than thirty days after service of notice of such order, decision, determination or disallowance, take an appeal therefrom to the superior court for the judicial district of New Britain, which shall be accompanied by a citation to the Commissioner of Revenue Services 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 and, if any tax or fee has been paid prior to the granting of such relief, may order the Treasurer to pay the amount of such relief, with interest at the rate of two-thirds of one per cent per month or fraction thereof to the aggrieved motor carrier. If the appeal has been taken without probable cause, the court may tax double or triple costs, as the case demands; and, upon all such appeals which are denied, costs may be taxed against the appellant at the discretion of the court, but no costs shall be taxed against the state.
(1961, P.A. 575, S. 12; 1971, P.A. 870, S. 101; P.A. 76-436, S. 324, 681; P.A. 78-280, S. 5, 6, 127; P.A. 81-366, S. 5, 7; P.A. 82-259, S. 6, 7; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 89-343, S. 14, 17; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 91-236, S. 11, 25; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-26, S. 25, 52; 95-220, S. 4-6; P.A. 99-215, S. 24, 29; P.A. 19-186, S. 21.)
History: 1971 act substituted court of common pleas for superior court, effective September 1, 1971, except that courts with cases pending retain jurisdiction unless pending matters deemed transferable; P.A. 76-436 substituted superior court for court of common pleas, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 78-280 substituted judicial district of Hartford-New Britain for Hartford county; P.A. 81-366 set the time in which to appeal at 45 days and gave the court the authority to grant equitable relief and to award court costs for any appeals of Subsec. (c) of Sec. 12-480; P.A. 82-259 deleted provisions related to appeal to superior court by any motor carrier concerning actions of the commissioner, and substituted in lieu thereof provisions re hearings before the commissioner related to any tax, penalty or interest under this chapter and re appeal to superior court by any motor carrier from determinations by the commissioner, including related procedures and relief court may grant; P.A. 88-230 replaced “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain” with “judicial district of Hartford”, effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 89-343 amended Subsec. (b) to increase the rate of interest on the amount of relief ordered by the court from 6% to 9% per annum; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September 1, 1993; P.A. 91-236 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for 60, rather than 30, days to request a hearing, effective July 1, 1991, and applicable to taxes due on or after that date; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective June 14, 1993; P.A. 95-26 amended Subsec. (b) to lower interest rate from 9% per annum to 0.66% per month, effective July 1, 1995, and applicable to taxes due and owing on or after July 1, 1995, whether or not those taxes first became due before said date; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1995 (Revisor's note: The reference in Subsec. (b) to “bond of recognizance” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “bond or recognizance”); P.A. 99-215 replaced “judicial district of Hartford” with “judicial district of New Britain” in Subsec. (b), effective June 29, 1999; P.A. 19-186 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical changes, and amended Subsec. (b) to replace “within one month” with “not later than thirty days”, effective July 8, 2019.