Justice NEHRING, opinion of the Court:
¶ 1 In this case, we review the Utah State Tax Commission's decision to deny Ivory Homes' refund request for sales tax it paid on expenses associated with concrete products that were delivered to various locations throughout Utah. We conclude that the Commission did not erroneously receive, collect, or compute any tax or overpayment that would entitle Ivory Homes to a refund under Utah Code section 59-12-110(2). We therefore affirm the Commission's decision.
¶ 2 From July 2005 to August 2008, Ivory Homes purchased various concrete products from Jack B. Parson Companies (Parson). When Parson delivered the products, it provided an invoice that charged a single sales price without indicating any separate delivery charges. Parson calculated sales tax on that price, and Ivory Homes paid the sales tax as invoiced.
¶ 3 In 2008, Ivory Homes hired an independent consulting firm, Profit Recovery Solutions, to examine its business practices and tax liability. Through this relationship, Ivory Homes discovered that if it had structured its transactions differently with Parson and bargained for separate and independent delivery charges, the charges would not be taxable. Specifically, it realized that delivery charges are not taxable under Utah law "if separately stated on an invoice, bill of sale, or similar document provided to the purchaser."
¶ 4 Based on this spreadsheet, labeled "supplemental invoice," Ivory Homes filed a
¶ 5 The Commission also denied the refund request. After Ivory Homes presented its evidence and called its witnesses, the Commission found that Ivory Homes "did not provide any evidence to show that the transactions at issue were for other than delivered concrete or that there was any error in the invoices as originally prepared and as originally paid." The Commission reasoned that, in this case, the best evidence of the parties' intent was the original invoices. It found that if, in fact, the parties intended separate and independent delivery charges, they would have listed them as such in the original invoices, just as they had done with separate nontaxable fuel surcharges. The Commission agreed with the Division that, as a factual matter, the intent of the parties was that "the transaction, as concluded between the parties was for delivered goods rather than for goods plus separate delivery charges." The Commission stated that "[t]he provisions of Utah law allowing for the correction of errors do not allow the Taxpayer to change completed transactions for delivered goods into sales of goods plus delivery charges." Instead, the original invoices reflected transactions that contained no delivery charges— just as the parties intended at the time. Consequently, the Commission concluded that the absence of any delivery charges rendered the entire purchase price of each transaction subject to sales tax, and no refund was warranted.
¶ 6 Ivory Homes appeals. We have jurisdiction to review final orders of the Utah State Tax Commission under Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(e)(ii).
¶ 7 We defer to the Tax Commission's findings of fact and review them for substantial evidence.
¶ 8 Utah Code section 59-12-102(87)(c)(ii)(B) exempts delivery charges from taxation if, and only if, there are separate delivery charges that are also documented.
¶ 9 Alternatively, a plain language analysis of the Refund Statute supports affirming the Commission's decision. The Refund Statute requires that "the [C]ommission erroneously receive[ ]" a tax to warrant a refund.
¶ 10 Finally, any ambiguity in the Refund Statute must be narrowly construed against the taxpayer. Operation of the Refund Statute creates a tax credit and is a matter of legislative grace. When a statute that provides a tax concession is unclear, the
¶ 11 The parties' intent that no delivery charges were included in the original transaction is a finding of fact which we decline to disturb. We defer to the Commission's findings of fact and disturb them only if they are not supported by substantial evidence.
¶ 12 Where, as here, the original written contract to a transaction is missing a term that renders the contract ambiguous,
¶ 13 At the formal hearing, Ivory Homes had the opportunity to present extrinsic evidence that there were improperly taxed delivery charges in the original transaction. Presumably, Ivory Homes offered the supplemental invoice, first, as extrinsic evidence that there were delivery charges, and second, to fulfill the requirement of Utah Code section 59-12-102(87)(c)(ii)(B) that such delivery charges be separately stated.
¶ 14 Contrary to the dissent's assertion, we express no opinion regarding a taxpayer's ability to correct errors through post-transaction documentation. However, before delivery charges can escape taxation outside of the purchase price, a party must establish that they exist. Ivory Homes attempted to do this through the presentation of its supplemental
¶ 15 The dissent dismisses the Commission's distinction between delivery charges and a seller's delivery expense factored into the purchase price. It reasons that so long as some portion of payment is dedicated to an activity that falls within the definition of delivery charges contained in Utah Code section 59-12-102(29),
¶ 16 Moreover, the form in which a transaction is structured often creates very different tax consequences given that our tax code is highly sensitive to such form. In Institutional Laundry, Inc. v. Utah State Tax Commission,
¶ 17 Similarly, the form in which Ivory Homes and Parson chose to arrange their transactions cannot be dismissed as inconsequential simply because Ivory Homes may now suffer an unfavorable tax consequence.
¶ 18 Furthermore, the importance of form in our tax laws becomes readily apparent when examining the statute at issue. Utah Code section 59-12-102(87)(c)(ii)(B) allows delivery charges to escape taxation only "if separately stated on an invoice, bill of sale, or similar document provided to the purchaser."
¶ 19 The Tax Commission found that there were no actual delivery charges in the transactions as originally intended and completed. We decline to disturb that factual finding under the appropriate "substantial evidence" standard of review.
¶ 20 Even if there had been separate delivery charges, Ivory Homes would not be entitled to a refund because a plain language interpretation of the Refund Statute's requirement that "the [C]ommission erroneously receive[ ] . . . [a] tax"
¶ 21 When interpreting statutory language, our primary objective is to ascertain the intent of the legislature.
¶ 22 When the subsections that compose the Refund Statute are reconciled with each other and read as a whole, it becomes clear that the Statute demands that the Commission err before a taxpayer is entitled to a refund. The first three subsections of Utah Code section 59-12-110(1) impose specific duties upon the Commission in its receipt of taxes. These duties consist of (1) examining returns for apparent errors, (2) recomputing tax upon discovery of an error, and (3) crediting the taxpayer if there is an overpayment. The Commission must have failed in one of these duties for Ivory Homes to be entitled to a refund.
¶ 23 The opening sentence of the Refund Statute imposes a duty upon the Commission that "[a]s soon as practicable after a return is filed, the [C]ommission shall examine the return."
¶ 24 The subsections that follow reflect a cumulative progression of duties imposed upon the Commission from the starting point at which it examines a return. Subsection 59-12-110(1)(b) states that upon such examination, "[i]f the [C]ommission determines that the correct amount of tax . . . is greater or less than the amount shown to be due on the return, the [C]ommission shall recompute the tax."
¶ 25 While the subsection contemplates that a taxpayer may make a typographical or computational error and preserve the right to a refund, it is operative only insofar as it imposes a duty upon the Commission to examine returns for these clerical mistakes. If the Commission were to err in its execution of that duty, it would receive the taxes in error. However, the subsection does not apply to a situation where there are no outward indicia that the taxpayer has failed to categorize and document nontaxable funds. To the degree that Ivory Homes relies on subsection 59-12-110(1) in support of its theory that taxpayer error is encompassed in the refund requirement that "the [C]ommission erroneously receive[]" taxes, that reliance is misplaced. For subsection 59-12-110(1) to be relevant here, the Commission would have had to fail in its duty to properly examine returns and/or recompute taxes. There has been no allegation that the Commission committed any such error. Therefore, subsection 59-12-110(1) simply does not apply.
¶ 26 Whereas subsection (1) of the Refund Statute imposes specific duties upon the Commission, subsection (2) provides the grounds for which a refund is due. Notably, subsection (2) structurally separates taxpayer actions that would warrant a refund from the erroneous actions that, if committed by the Commission, would justify the same result. Subsection 59-12-110(2) limits taxpayer errors that create tax refunds to situations in which "a taxpayer pays a tax, penalty, or interest more than once."
¶ 27 The dissent fails to apprehend the structural separation within the statute of the taxpayer and the commission actions that would create a right to a refund. Instead, it reasons that when one "erroneously receives" a telephone call, it is commonly understood that the caller, not the recipient, has committed
¶ 28 Moreover, had the legislature intended that taxpayer error be encompassed in the phrase "the [C]ommission erroneously receive[ ] . . . [a] tax," it could have obviated the entire subsection by simply stating that a refund is warranted whenever "a taxpayer erroneously pays a tax." The legislature did not do so. Instead, it chose to structurally separate the taxpayer and commission actions that would justify a refund. An examination of this structure and the plain language of the statute requires that the Commission commit some error before a refund should be granted on the basis that "the [C]ommission erroneously receive[d]. . . [a] tax."
¶ 29 This reading of section 59-12-110(2), requiring commission error before a tax refund may be granted, is supported by our cases that interpret similar tax refund statutes. For example, in Shea v. State Tax Commission, we considered a statute that provided a tax refund if "the [Commission] through error collects any fee not required to be paid."
¶ 30 These cases make clear that a taxpayer is entitled to a refund under section 59-12-110(2) only if the Commission fails in its duty to examine filed returns or commits some other error at the time the Commission "receives, collects, or computes . . . any tax." Because the Commission has made no such error. Ivory Homes is not entitled to a refund.
¶ 31 To the extent that the plain language is not clear, we construe the Refund Statute narrowly against the taxpayer. We generally construe tax imposition statutes
¶ 32 The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has explained the demand for narrowly construing credit and refund statutes, stating:
¶ 33 The dissent contends that the plain meaning of the phrase "the [C]ommission erroneously receives . . . any tax" encompasses circumstances in which the taxpayer that erroneously pays a tax even though such error would be unapparent to the Commission.
¶ 34 Under a substantial evidence standard of review, we decline to disturb the Commission's findings of fact that the parties did not intend delivery charges in their original transactions.
¶ 35 Alternatively, a plain language interpretation of the Refund Statute requires that the Tax Commission commit some error in its receipt of taxes before a taxpayer is entitled to a refund. The Refund Statute does not impose a tax but rather provides tax relief and is a matter of legislative grace. Such statutes are subject to strict construction and any ambiguity must be resolved in favor of the Tax Commission. Accordingly, we affirm the Tax Commission's decision that it did not erroneously receive any tax, and Ivory Homes is not entitled to a tax refund.
¶ 36 Chief Justice DURHAM and Justice PARRISH concur in Justice NEHRING'S opinion.
Associate Chief Justice DURRANT, dissenting:
¶ 37 I respectfully dissent. In the instant case, we are asked to determine whether Ivory Homes is entitled to a refund for sales tax it paid on delivery charges that were not separately stated in invoices it received at
¶ 38 Based on its interpretation of these statutes, the majority holds that Ivory Homes is not entitled to a refund from the Commission. In reaching this decision, the majority asserts that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that "there were no delivery charges in the . . . transaction" between Ivory Homes and Parson.
¶ 39 I disagree with all three of these conclusions. First, I do not agree that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that the purchase price charged by Parson did not include a specific amount dedicated to delivery charges. Instead, I believe that the Commission's factual findings support the conclusion that a portion of the price Ivory Homes paid to Parson was dedicated to delivery charges. Second, although I agree that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that the parties did not intend for the delivery charges to be separately stated in the original invoices, I do not agree that this intent prohibited the parties from subsequently correcting the invoices to separately state the delivery charges. Rather, in my view, the plain language of the Definitions Statute provides that delivery charges are nontaxable any time they are separately stated in an invoice or similar document, even if the document is provided to a purchaser after an initial transaction. Finally, I disagree that the Refund Statute's use of the phrase "erroneously receives" requires that an error be made by the Commission before a taxpayer is entitled to a refund. Instead, I believe that the Refund Statute's statement that a taxpayer is entitled to a refund whenever a taxpayer makes an overpayment indicates that the phrase "erroneously receives" contemplates refunds not only for errors made by the Commission but also for errors made by a taxpayer.
¶ 40 Because a portion of the sales price that Ivory Homes paid to Parson was dedicated to delivery charges and because these delivery charges have been separately stated on invoices provided to the Commission, I would hold that this portion of the purchase price is not taxable. Additionally, because Ivory Homes made an overpayment by paying sales tax that it was not, with proper documentation, required to pay, I would hold that the Commission erroneously received the tax and that Ivory Homes is therefore entitled to a refund.
¶ 41 In paragraph fifteen of its opinion, the majority states that "the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that the parties' original transactions never contained . . . delivery charges" and that such separate charges were never intended. I agree with the majority that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that the parties did not intend to include separately stated delivery charges in the original invoices given to Ivory Homes and that this finding is entitled to substantial deference. But I disagree with the majority's assertion that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that no part of the sales price Ivory Homes paid to Parson was dedicated to delivery charges.
¶ 42 In its findings of fact, the Commission expressly noted that Parson had provided evidence demonstrating that it sold ready-mix concrete to customers that did not require delivery "at a reduced price compared to ready-mixed concrete products with delivery." The Commission also noted that Parson's "accounting system allowed for the tracking of delivery charges as a separate item from the cost of the products themselves" and that Parson had appeared at a hearing and provided evidence "as to what would have been the amounts of the delivery charges if they had been separately identified on [Parson's] invoices."
¶ 43 In my view, these findings of fact support the conclusion that the purchase price on the invoices received by Ivory Homes did include a specific amount that was dedicated to delivery charges. Specifically, the portion of the purchase price dedicated to delivery charges represents the difference between the amount Parson charged for delivered concrete and the amount Parson charged for nondelivered concrete. This portion is reflected in the corrected invoices and similar documents that Parson provided to the Commission. Accordingly, because the Commission's factual findings suggest that a portion of the purchase price paid to Parson was dedicated to delivery charges, I disagree with the majority's conclusion that the Commission found, as a matter of fact, that the original transaction did not include any amount dedicated to delivery charges.
¶ 44 Although the Commission's factual findings support the conclusion that the purchase prices in the original transactions between the parties included a delivery charge, it is undisputed that the original invoices did not separately state those delivery fees. We therefore must decide whether a party can modify or correct an invoice to separately state a delivery charge when that charge was not separately stated on the original invoice. In paragraph fifteen of its opinion, the majority agrees that "so long as some portion of payment is dedicated to an activity that falls within the definition of delivery charges contained in [the Definitions Statute], that portion would not be taxable." The majority therefore reasons that had Ivory Homes intended to dedicate a portion of its payment to delivery charges, that amount would not be taxable. But the majority concludes that Ivory Homes did not dedicate a portion of its payment to delivery charges because it did not intend to separately state the delivery charges in the original invoices. In reaching this conclusion, the majority appears to accept the Commission's legal conclusion that taxpayers can correct an invoice only when they introduce evidence demonstrating that they intended, at the time of the original transaction, for the delivery charges to be separately stated. To the extent that the majority adopts this rule, I disagree.
¶ 45 The plain language of the Definitions Statute excludes delivery charges from taxation if a purchaser is provided with "an invoice,
¶ 46 As noted above, it is undisputed that the original invoices that Parson provided to Ivory Homes did not separately state the portion of the purchase price that was dedicated to delivery charges. But it is also undisputed that, after these transactions, Parson provided Ivory Homes with corrected invoices and spreadsheets that did separately state the delivery charges. In my view, this is all that the plain language of the Definitions Statute requires to render delivery charges nontaxable. Specifically, pursuant to the Definitions Statute's plain language, the delivery charges that Ivory Homes paid for became nontaxable once they were separately stated on the corrected "invoice[s], bill[s] of sale, or similar document[s]."
¶ 47 In addition to concluding that the original transactions between Ivory Homes and Parson did not include delivery charges, the majority concludes that, even if they had "Ivory Homes would not be entitled to a refund because a plain language interpretation of the Refund Statute's requirement that `the [C]ommission erroneously receive[] . . . [a] tax' contemplates some mistake on the part of the Commission."
¶ 48 I agree with the majority that, in some instances, the phrase "erroneously receives" may contemplate an error on the part of a receiving party, such as the Commission. But the phrase may also be used to describe an error made by someone other than the receiver. For instance, one may erroneously receive a phone call from a wrong-number dialer; an attorney may erroneously receive privileged information that opposing counsel did not mean to disclose; or one might erroneously receive payment for work not yet completed. In each of these instances, the error committed is not made by the receiver, but by the caller, sender, or payor, respectively.
¶ 49 Ultimately, however, I see no reason to engage in a linguistic debate about which usage of this phrase is more common because the Refund Statute expressly states that a taxpayer is entitled to a refund "[i]f . . . the [C]ommission erroneously receives . . . any tax, . . . including an overpayment."
¶ 50 The majority dismisses the statutory reference to an "overpayment" as "refer[ring] only to the duties and procedure of the Commission in examining filed returns."
In contrast, the majority's interpretation of "overpayment" appears to foreclose a taxpayer's ability to correct many errors. Under the majority's analysis, an overpayment can only exist—and therefore only be corrected—at the moment the tax is originally paid. See supra ¶ 25 n. 33. In practice then, subsequent invoices cannot be created and filed to correct the amount of the tax that is due. By essentially foreclosing a taxpayer's ability to correct the amount due, the majority's interpretation is at odds with its assertion that it "express[es] no opinion regarding a taxpayer's ability to correct errors through post-transaction documentation." Supra ¶ 14.
Moreover, I am unpersuaded by the notion that tax credits—but not tax impositions—are "matters of legislative grace" that lend themselves to strict construction. Supra ¶ 31. At some level, any legislative act is a matter of "grace," in that all statutes stop short of an extreme that would impose greater hardships on the regulated parties. And that is surely true of "tax imposition statutes," which decline to impose an even higher tax rate. In that sense, "tax imposition statutes" are every bit as much a matter of "grace" as tax credit statutes, and thus both are logically as worthy of strict construction in favor of the taxing authority.
Finally, I believe that the line between the two is ultimately unworkable. The Refund Statute can be characterized as a "credit" provision in the sense that it prescribes a procedure for taxpayer recovery of taxes that are erroneously received. But the statute is every bit as much an integral part of the underlying "tax imposition statute," in that it sets forth a mechanism for ensuring that the amount paid is the correct amount of tax originally imposed.
Because of these concerns, I do not think that we should assume that the legislature exaggerates its tax refund enactments or understates its tax imposition statutes. Instead, we should presume that the legislature means what it says and interpret tax refund provisions the same that way we construe other statutes.