umdhms1[at]hotmail.com (Joe Ashton) wrote:

- quote -

I wouldn't say I was an "expert" on Massachusetts tax, but I
do have access to the code, regs, forms, etc.

Massachusetts generally follows the federal statute of
limitations rules, although they have some special quirks of
their own. Generally, though, the statute of limitations on
deficiency assessments is three years from the due date of
the return or the date the return was filed, whichever is
later.

Massachusetts must issue a deficiency assessment before the
statute expires. It also must notify the taxpayer of its
intent to issue a deficiency assessment and allow 30 days
for the taxpayer to consult with the department before
issuing the assessment. So the notice of intent must be
issued no less than 30 days before expiration of the
statute. As a practical matter, I doubt that they ever want
to cut it that fine. But there is no legal bar to their
doing so.

Similar to federal, if the state finds that an audit cannot
be completed within the statutory time limit, it can ask the
taxpayer to sign a waiver extending the statute. If a
taxpayer is not available for a conference with the
department within 30 days from the issuance of the notice of
intention to assess, then the department can require the
taxpayer to sign a statute waiver in order to preserve the
right to a conference.

No notice of intention to assess is required for a
deficiency that arises from a mathematical or clerical error
that is evident on the face of the return.

There is nothing in the Massachusetts Taxpayer Bill of
Rights that sets a time limit on the commencement of an
audit.

- quote -

No. The Massachusetts Notice of Deficiency Assessment (not
the Notice of Intent) must be mailed prior to expiration of
the statute. The IRS must issue a 90-day letter prior to
expiration of the federal statute.

Katie in San Diego

The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only and
does not constitute legal or professional advice.

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1. IRS usually opens new auditing cases within 28 months of
tax filing, allowing 8 months to complete. Does
Massachusetts DOR have similar instruction? For example, if
they find a target 1 or 2 month before the 3 year statue
limitation, they don't have enough time for taxpayer to
appeal, etc, is this a violation of tax payers' rights?

2. Taxpayers have to pay tax before some deadline such as
April 15; so thousands of people line up in front of post
office to get their returns post marked before April 15.
Does IRS or Mass DOR have same responsibility to obey this
rule? i.e., is it still valid if they send out an audit
decision postmarked (e.g., April 17) after the 3-year
deadline (April 15)?

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