Tennessee Code 67-5-2801 – Industrial and commercial personal property taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees and costs – Waiver of enforcement and collection
(a) The trustee or collector may request the delinquent tax attorney to seek court approval in order to waive the enforcement and collection of all, but not a portion of, industrial and commercial personal property taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees and costs. All of the following must be determined and attested to by the trustee or collector before a court may approve a waiver:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 67-5-2801
Collector: means in the case of any tax entity, other than a county, that collects its own taxes, assessments, or other charges secured by property, the officer of such tax entity responsible for collecting such taxes, assessments, or charges. See Tennessee Code 67-5-105
Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Personal property: All property that is not real property.
Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
Taxpayer: means any owner of property subject to taxation or any party liable for property taxes. See Tennessee Code 67-5-105
Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) The taxpayer has ceased all business operations;(2) No personal property subject to the tax can be found; and(3) Neither fraud nor an intention to avoid payment of the taxes on the part of the taxpayer caused the circumstances giving rise to such waiver.(b) In order to waive the enforcement and collection of taxes, including penalties, interest, or attorney fees and costs, imposed on public utility personal property or personal property of modern market telecommunications providers, the trustee or collector must first confirm with the comptroller of the treasury that such taxpayer’s local assessment only includes personal property and does not include any real property. If such taxpayer is still operating, then no waiver may be requested or approved even if the local assessment only includes personal property and no personal property can be found in the trustee’s or the collector’s jurisdiction. If such taxpayer has ceased all operations and the local assessment does not include any real property, then the trustee or the collector may request a waiver in accordance with subdivisions (a)(1)-(3).(c) The trustee or collector is required to submit a report to the chief executive officer of the local government and the county assessor of all waivers approved by the court when no delinquent tax lawsuit has been filed. The report shall contain the taxpayer’s name and amount of taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees, and costs waived. The waivers approved by the court under this subsection (c) are to be included and written as a credit in the monthly settlement and annual statement in accordance with § 67-5-1903.(d) With respect to delinquent personal property taxes being waived under this section, for which the delinquent lawsuit has been filed, the court having jurisdiction of the delinquent tax lawsuit may, upon motion by the delinquent tax attorney and a finding that the factors outlined in subdivisions (a)(1)-(3) or subsection (b) exist, order the waiver of enforcement and collection of all, but not a portion of, such personal property taxes, penalties, interest, attorney fees and costs.
