Case Information

*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS AUSTIN

GRAI.0 c. MA n *nun ..* J .,

Honorable 6sorgs 0. noam

oounty Atsorney

Fort Bend County

RiOhmond, Texas

Opinion x0. 0.lS72 se1 Should tha Fax Colleatar ra- turn the amount of State ad Yoloren tar disoounts allow- able in o&me where the tax- payer has.s8nt in the full I ailount of suoh Sate ad : valoren tar~wlthout deduot- lng eald: discount? ,

I

Ye are In reoeipt of your letter ot Ootober 10, 1939, ln'whlah you rrqueet an opin$on al this I%prrtment a8 to whotber 4r not ths Tas Colleutor'of.your Gounty should return to taxpayers the amoun6 of dlsaount-.on State ad valo- rmctaxecl whloh~they are entitled to~under. ths’law, but whioh Qfeoount.they h&x?+ failed to,ded\lot from their tar payrmnt; .,' ,, -". ., ,~ ,~ ; .,.

&he .niwir t&&r q&a;iaa I&& bt nhoieslty de- 'pend t&a -etk%utory ~oonstruotloa ~8 wo b here' at? au%hority on our.tax.,disodrrnt,statut~ nhioh mm pamed by thr'-last ssssion .o2~our~Lsglalature. .%?afd statMa has~besn Anoorporatsd Into Verhon's Annotated Civil Btatutaa and numbered Artiole 70576 and raqdc,,!n part a8 follows:

~. ,. *ix11 taxpayers shall be allowed dirr- oowtit for the payment Of tame due tO ths 5tate and all gooermaemtal and politioal subdlvirsions and taxing dletriots of the 'Xete, eaid dlsoounts to be oUowed undcrr the roii0dng oondftione: (a) three (s) .per cent diaoount 3n ad valorea taxan due the State or due any goysrnmmtal or po- litloal subdlvielon or taxing distrlot OS the state, if suoh taxes nre paid ninety *2 Eonorabla Ga~or~za 9. ~oana, rage 2

(90) days b,?for.? the dnta zhan they would otherwise b?cona delinquent; (b) t’wo (2%) pbr osnt discount bn ad valorern taxes due the t’tnte or due nny ~overmental or po- lifloal subdirision or taxing dlstrlot or the Stata it suoh taxee are paid sixty (00) the data whah they would other- dsps hforo ?TkC b%ComS CieliAqU0ht; (0) Quo (1;:) par cent dfscoonton sd valoram taxes daa .Ctate or dua any qoverzunbntal or politloal PubdivisiDn ar e*a~ir~~ distriot or tha Xata, it mch %axas ara ;aid thirty (30) dogs ba- fore tha dato ?.%A t&y would other~iva ba- Q%ia 6al.iA~~sA~ .+ I ' *-

The bnTl.7 acAditiaA u:mA vhlah tha msntin~ of the dicoou~t haa baen'predicated by the Laqislntoro is the iaaymant within a spaulSio period of tiara. This SSXL&& LUgUfige eVidaAOS8 the intaation oi t,ha ieqlolatu~e that ouch d.foc~:untr~should be had not only by the lrlr7.a taxpayer who vmcld be ~11 zCvlmd o? hln rinhtm, but also by th c snsll tc,x>syer r:'no la Act so =ell advised as. tn my dircouot that -tight ba oomlng ta hip? under the law.

Ihe i.ct nekao ao prorlsioa for my z~~lication for

dlsaount to bs usda, znd via are o: the opinlm t;hct no suoh ap- plioetion or raqusat is n,so,esaarp or QoAtSmplatad by the LagiSla- IA other words, 1cP a taxpayer owed One T3011ar ($1.93) OS turs. state ad valorem taxes and paid the same within thirty (32) daya after said tax became due, al.1 he awed wa r!iAety-sovan (20.97) .,._A . - (y,) d:z;cmt Canta, .zad not ;ine, i)ollar ( $1.00 ] 3hu3 a + + "-3: ilkawisa, It ha paid ait!&i si::z:- ;MJ days, all ii requested. he would owe at the time UZ the ~~mant s?!O~ld be niX+ty-Si;ht (,:0.98) cants, end if payment ~1s made within AlASty (90) daya, all he would owa would ba ninety-niAa (i3.G'J) CC?II~S.

Honorable Csor$e C. Roam, Zage 3

Baaed upon the above conolusion the coxt question

whioh ?resente itself is what disposition should the Tax 201~ leotor make of this excess noney which hss been sent him but bhhfoh the taxpayer did not owe. There are numerous oasee whioh diaouas the erreot or a voluntary payment or taxes by a taxpayer. These oases are not relevant to our situation at hand, beoause here we hsre no actual payment of this excess money bslng m&la. It is a fundamental rule of law that before you cm have a payment of tams, the money tendered has to be aooeptea 'as payaont by the Tax Colleotor. In other words, in a situation whare ,a taxpayer tendered to the Tar Collector an amount less than the amount he owed as taxes, such a tender would not oonatitute a payment of the taxes owed by said tax- * payer. Acceptance by the Tax Colleotor of suoh tender is a part of the notual payment of the tax. I;l this 0388, tiie Tax Collaotor is authorized to accept money tendered IA payment of a State tax, which money is aotually due from the taxpayer.

3% oan find no authority in the atntntes whioh would allow the Tax Collaotor to oolleot and hold money In excess of the amount If in such a ease a Tax Col- aotuallp due rrom the-tamayer.

leotor should rsoeive the money tendered and mistakenly think that it Is the oorreot amount of money owed, anU.opply the sams as payment of the State taxes owed by, a partioular tox- payer, then in all probablllty said taxpayer would be unable to reoover the exoeas whioh he has gala. However, in this 0380 prior to eooeptanoe by the Tax Collaotor, said Collector finds that part of the money tendered is not owing to the State and 18 in exoeaa of the amount of taxes which o taxpayer aotually owes. In mob a ease it is the opinion of this Department that it would be the duty of the Tax Colleotor to return the excess reoeived by him to said taxpayer.

In support of our oonoluaion in thiq respect, we be- lieve that it waa the intention of the Legislature that this disoount be aotually given to all taxpayers, regordlasa Of the amount or money Involved. In this conneotion I would like to refer to the tax statement whfoh you submitted to this Offioe along with your letter. Evidently the tax statement states the full mount of State taxes due from a tamayer without the disoount, being computed on the in08 or it. On the back, tow-' ever, is a aoheaule of dlaoounts which my be allowed.

Ii the Tax Calleotor submitted to the taxpayers a

statement showing the, amount of tax they would owe ii thay laid within the three different periods oi' tiara, then in all Fobabil- ity there would be no overpayment :uhich ::ou oomplain Or in your letter. under thb particulm type of tax atstement enclosed, there 1s a eeat possibility of the taxpayer erroneously ooWuting

Honorable GeorS:e G. Fioene, ?sge 4

the amount of the diaoount in dollars and oenta which he DLight ~deduot from the statment sent him. This would lead to muoh 'nonfusion and necessity for additional oorreapondenoe. ‘,lSO in oonne.otlon.therewith, to allow the Tar Collector to keep the overpayments would be to penalize those who were unable to oorreatly oompute the amount of disoount whioh they might take. This was not the intention of the Legislature.

Terhapb in issuing the tax atat8axents your Zolleotor should adopt a iona whereby the taxpayer map tell Prom fnae of the statemont exaotly how muoh Stata ad velorea taxes in dollara and oenta he owes rt any psrtioular time. This would slleviate the dfffioulty ot having to return theae dlsaount over- payments.

It is the opinion of t:lis Separtmeot, how8ver, that vrhen suoh overpayments sre made to the T;u ;olleotor who notea them, then he ehould.return the overpayments to the taxpayera sending the sama.

Yours very truly APPROVEDOGT 26, 1939 BG:itS

ATTORNEY GENERAL OB TEXAS OPINION

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