Jeff Kaiser, P.C. and Jeffery Benedict Kaiser, A/K/A Jeffrey B. Kaiser v. State, 03-15-00019-CV

Background

Jeff Kaiser, P.C. forfeited its corporate privileges for failing to file a franchise tax report; its sole officer is Jeffery B. Kaiser.
During Jeffery Kaiser’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy (filed Aug. 2008, discharged July 15, 2009) he late-filed franchise tax reports for 2004–2007 (Dec. 22, 2008) that reported tax due but no payment was made.
The Comptroller certified delinquent franchise taxes and filed a state tax lien against Jeff Kaiser, P.C. on April 15, 2013.
The State sued the corporation and Kaiser individually (Tex. Tax Code §171.255) on August 2, 2013 to recover $34,776.53 in taxes, penalties, and interest; bench trial held Oct. 27, 2014.
The trial court found the taxes delinquent and entered judgment for the State for $34,776.53 plus $2,500 in attorney’s fees; appellants appealed raising statute-of-limitations and evidentiary challenges.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
1. Burden on limitations defense	State: appellants had burden to prove limitations and failed to adduces dates that would trigger/stop the 3-year window.	Kaiser: limitations barred suit because taxes became due when late reports were filed and State did not sue within applicable period.	Trial court/State: appellants failed to prove a triggering deficiency/jeopardy date; burden is on them, so limitations defense failed.
2. Effect of tax lien on timeliness (Tex. Tax Code §111.202)	State: §111.202 allows suit within 3 years after the last recording of a lien; lien filed Apr 15, 2013 and suit Aug 2, 2013 — timely.	Kaiser: statute should run from date taxes were due/assessed (arguing lien must be filed within assessment window), so suit is untimely.	Court: plain language controls — suit was within 3 years of last-recorded lien; lien was sufficient to make suit timely.
3. Sufficiency of evidence of delinquency (Comptroller certificate, interlineations)	State: Trial Certificate, Comptroller printout, and the signed franchise reports showing amounts due (plus testimony explaining interlineations) provide legally and factually sufficient evidence.	Kaiser: interlineations/zeros on the filed reports contradict the Trial Certificate and create a fact issue; certificate cannot be relied on alone.	Court: finding that $34,776.53 was due (independent of the certificate) is supported by evidence; certificate is prima facie under Tex. Tax Code §111.013 and appellants did not conclusively disprove liability.
4. Attorney’s fees evidentiary sufficiency	State: attorney testified regarding experience, tasks, time (≈10 hours) and a reasonable $250/hr rate — sufficient to support $2,500 fee award.	Kaiser: absence of detailed contemporaneous billing records renders fee award unsupported (relying on Olivas).	Court: testimonial evidence of hours, tasks, and rate sufficed; detailed time records were not required under the governing fee standard for this claim.

Key Cases Cited

Woods v. William M. Mercer, Inc., 769 S.W.2d 515 (Tex. 1988) (burden of proof for affirmative defenses).
Calvert v. Eng’rs & Fabricators, Inc., 440 S.W.2d 320 (Tex. Civ. App.—Austin 1969) (interpretation of predecessor tax limitation provisions).
Wilson v. State, 272 S.W.3d 686 (Tex. App.—Austin 2008) (distinguishing deficiency-determination accrual from underlying tax due dates).
Formosa Plastics Corp. USA v. Presidio Eng’rs & Contractors, Inc., 960 S.W.2d 41 (Tex. 1998) (legal-sufficiency standards).
Cain v. Bain, 709 S.W.2d 175 (Tex. 1986) (factual-sufficiency standard — "clearly wrong and manifestly unjust").
City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802 (Tex. 2005) (standards for factual-sufficiency and reviewing fact findings).
El Apple I, Ltd. v. Olivas, 370 S.W.3d 757 (Tex. 2012) (lodestar / documentary proof context for fee awards — limited to federal-style lodestar proof).
Hatcher v. State, 81 S.W.2d 499 (Tex. 1935) (surety/principal limitations principles).