Delinquent taxes; interest; collection

To any taxes which are assessed under section 12-233, there shall be added interest at the rate of one per cent per month or fraction thereof from the date when the original tax became due and payable. The amount of any tax, penalty or interest due and unpaid under the provisions of this part may be collected under the provisions of section 12-35. The warrant therein provided for shall be signed by the commissioner or his authorized agent. The amount of any such tax, penalty and interest shall be a lien, from the last day of the income year until discharged by payment, against all real estate of the company within the state, and a certificate of such lien signed by the commissioner may be filed for record in the office of the clerk of any town in which such real estate is situated, provided no such lien shall be effective as against any bona fide purchaser or qualified encumbrancer of any interest in any such property. When any tax with respect to which a lien has been recorded under the provisions of this section has been satisfied, the commissioner, upon request of any interested party, shall issue a certificate discharging such lien, which certificate shall be recorded in the same office in which the lien was recorded. Any action for the foreclosure of such lien shall be brought by the Attorney General in the name of the state in the superior court for the judicial district in which the property subject to such lien is situated, or, if such property is located in two or more judicial districts, in the superior court for any one such judicial district, and the court may limit the time for redemption or order the sale of such property or pass such other or further decree as it judges equitable.

(1949 Rev., S. 1915; 1959, P.A. 69, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 388, S. 4; P.A. 76-322, S. 4, 27; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 4, 127; P.A. 80-307, S. 8, 31; P.A. 81-411, S. 16, 42; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-4, S. 4, 32; P.A. 82-325, S. 3, 7; P.A. 85-501, S. 2; P.A. 88-314, S. 7, 54; P.A. 93-74, S. 9, 67; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-4, S. 34, 85; P.A. 95-160, S. 64, 69.)

History: 1959 act decreased interest rate from 0.6% to 0.5% per month; 1969 act increased interest rate to 0.75%; P.A. 76-322 increased interest rate to 1%; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district” for “county”; P.A. 80-307 increased interest rate temporarily to 1.25% for taxes due on and after July 1, 1980, but not later than June 30, 1981; P.A. 81-411 continued interest on delinquent taxes at the rate of 1.25% per month, effective July 1, 1981, and applicable to taxes becoming due on or after that date; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-4 raised interest rate from 1.25% to 1.66% per month, effective February 1, 1982 and applicable to taxes payable to the state which first become due on or after that date; P.A. 82-325 revised effective date of Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-4 but without affecting this section; P.A. 85-501 provided lien shall not be effective against a “qualified” encumbrancer as defined in Sec. 12-35b, deleting reference to purchaser or encumbrancer to whom property is transferred between last day of income year and date on which lien is recorded; P.A. 88-314 made technical changes in reference to the rate of interest added if the tax is not paid when due, conforming with the description used for most state taxes, effective July 1, 1988, and applicable to any tax which first becomes due and payable on or after said date, to any return or report due on or after said date, or in the case of any ongoing obligation imposed in accordance with said act, to the tax period next beginning on or after said date; P.A. 93-74 decreased interest rate from 1.66% to 1.25%, effective May 19, 1993, and applicable to taxes due and payable on and after January 1, 1994; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-4 reduced interest rate from 1.25% to 1%, effective July 1, 1995, and applicable to taxes due and owing on or after said date; P.A. 95-160 revised effective date of May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-4 but without affecting this section.