| (a) Contents of Position Letter. The Tax Hearings Attorney
will review the Statement of Grounds, documentary evidence, and any
additional evidence received from the taxpayer and issue a Position
Letter to the taxpayer. The Position Letter will accept or reject,
in whole or in part, each contention of the taxpayer, and state the
AHS's position on all disputed issues raised by the taxpayer, such
as taxability, penalty and interest waiver, and whether the taxpayer
is an individual or entity liable for the assessment of tax at issue.
(b) Selection form. The Position Letter will include
a selection form for the taxpayer to accept or reject the Position
Letter. See §1.13 of this title (relating to Taxpayer's Acceptance
or Rejection of Position Letter, and Reply to Position Letter).
(c) Notice of demand. Pursuant to Tax Code, §111.105(e),
the Tax Hearings Attorney may issue with the Position Letter a written
notice of demand that all documentary evidence to support facts or
contentions related to a taxpayer's claim for refund be produced before
the expiration of a specified date in the notice. The specified date
may not be less than 180 days from the date of the original refund
claim, and not less than 60 days from the date of the notice. The
deadline to respond to the notice of demand may be extended by the
Tax Hearings Attorney. A taxpayer who fails to produce the requested
documents by the specified date may not introduce in evidence any
of the documents that were not timely produced. The assigned ALJ cannot
consider in SOAH proceedings documents that were not timely produced.
This section is only applicable to the administrative hearing and
has no effect on a judicial proceeding pending under Tax Code, Chapter
112. See Tax Code, §111.105(e). The agency may also issue a notice
of demand pursuant to Tax Code, §111.105(e) at other stages of
the contested case process before or after the issuance of a Position
Letter.
(d) Taxpayer's option to set a Position Letter deadline.
After a contested case is assigned, the Tax Hearings Attorney will
issue an introductory letter providing contact information and other
information concerning the hearings process. If the Tax Hearings Attorney
does not issue the Position Letter within 60 days after the date of
the introductory letter, the taxpayer may submit a written request
to the Tax Hearings Attorney to issue a Position Letter within 45
days of the receipt of the request. The Tax Hearings Attorney will
issue a Position Letter within the 45-day deadline, obtain an agreed
extension of the deadline to issue the Position Letter, or confer
with the taxpayer concerning the docketing of the case at SOAH consistent
with §1.20 of this title (relating to Docketing Oral and Written
Submission Hearings).
(e) Modification or amendment of the Position Letter.
If the Position Letter is modified or amended, the taxpayer must accept
or reject the modified or amended Position Letter, in whole or in
part, within 45 days after the day the modified or amended Position
Letter is dated, unless an extension is granted. If the Position Letter
includes a Notice of Demand consistent with subsection (c) of this
section, the date to respond to the Notice of Demand will correspond
to the date, including any extension thereof, by which the taxpayer
must accept or reject the modified or amended Position Letter.
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