(a) The commissioner is authorized to require that any return, report, claim, statement, application, or other document filed with the department, including any payment or remittance that accompanies such document, be submitted electronically in a manner approved by the commissioner beginning no sooner than ninety (90) days after the commissioner has certified that a system is in place for the electronic submission of such document or payment. Such certification shall be accomplished by the commissioner prominently posting a notice on the department’s website.
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) If an electronic filing requirement imposed pursuant to the authority granted in subsection (a) creates a hardship upon the person subject to the requirement, such person shall be permitted to file the applicable document in paper form. The commissioner is authorized to require that any such paper filing be accompanied by a manual handling fee, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00), that is reasonably calculated by the department to account for the additional cost of preparing, printing, receiving, reviewing and processing any paper filing so permitted.(c) This section shall apply to any tax, regulatory, or other law administered by the department of revenue under this or any other title. This section shall not, however, be construed to supersede or otherwise affect any electronic filing or payment requirement already provided by law on January 1, 2012, including any penalty or waiver provisions connected therewith, and shall not require the certification of any system already in place before January 1, 2012.(d) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the cumulative total of manual handling fees charged to any one (1) taxpayer for all tax filings in any twelve-month period shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00).(e) The department shall notify each taxpayer that the cumulative total of all manual handling fees for all paper returns, reports, claims, statements, applications, or other documents filed with the department, including any payments or remittances that accompany such documents, shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) for all such filings in any twelve-month period. The department shall include such notice in any one (1) regularly scheduled communication between the department and the taxpayer.
