La. R.S. 47:1603 — Waiver of penalty for delinquent filing or delinquent payment

A.(1) If the action or failure to act resulting in a penalty pursuant to R.S. 47:1602 or
1602.1 is attributable, not to the negligence of the taxpayer, but to other cause set forth in
written form and considered reasonable by the secretary of the Department of Revenue, the
secretary may remit or waive payment of the whole or any part of the specific penalty
provided for such failure.
(2)(a) In order to promote the effective administration of the tax laws of this state,
the secretary may promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure
Act concerning the waiver of penalties, including but not limited to the establishment of a
voluntary disclosure program.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in any case where the
secretary and the taxpayer have entered into a valid and enforceable voluntary disclosure
agreement, the secretary may remit or waive the payment of the whole or any part of the
penalties provided for in this Subtitle.
(3) Until December 31, 2015, in any case when the penalty exceeds twenty-five
thousand dollars, it can be waived by the secretary only after approval by the Board of Tax
Appeals. However, the secretary's waiver of a penalty as part of a voluntary disclosure
program shall not require the approval of the board. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.
47:1508, beginning January 1, 2016, waivers of all penalties exceeding twenty-five thousand
dollars shall be subject to oversight by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the
Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs. This provision shall not apply to any
penalty the secretary remits or waives in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated
pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act regarding the remittance or waiver of penalties
under the department's voluntary disclosure program.
B. With the exception of those situations when, in the opinion of the secretary, the
taxpayer has acted in bad faith or with intentional disregard for the laws of the state or the
regulations of the department, for any taxable year ending on or after December 31, 1996,
a reasonable cause for purposes of Subsection A of this Section shall be presumed to exist
by the secretary of the Department of Revenue under the following circumstances:
(1) An individual taxpayer or corporate taxpayer that is not a large corporation
satisfies the requirements of R.S. 47:103(D), relative to extensions for filing of an individual
or corporate tax return and the excess of the amount of tax shown on the taxpayer's
individual or corporate income tax return, over the amount of tax paid on or before the
regular due date of the return by virtue of taxes withheld by the taxpayer, payments made
pursuant to the declaration of estimated tax, and the payment in full of estimated tax liability,
is no greater than ten percent of the amount of tax shown on the individual's applicable
Louisiana income tax return. Any balance due shown on the taxpayer's individual or
corporate income tax return is remitted with the return.
(2) Any individual taxpayer or corporate taxpayer that is not a large corporation
satisfies any of the requirements as provided by law, relative to notice to the secretary of
federal tax adjustments, and the taxpayer files an amended Louisiana individual income tax
return based upon the adjustments to the federal income tax return, and pays the additional
tax shown thereon, plus applicable interest accrued thereon pursuant to R.S. 47:1601, within
ninety days after the federal adjustments have been made and accepted by the taxpayer,
provided that if the taxpayer does not receive a statement of the federal adjustments until
after he accepts the adjustments, he shall have ninety days from the receipt of such statement
within which to file the amended Louisiana income tax return and pay the tax shown thereon,
plus applicable interest.
(3) The Louisiana income tax return of any individual taxpayer or any corporation
that is not a large corporation is adjusted as the result of an audit by the Department of
Revenue if within sixty days after the Louisiana audit adjustments have been made and
accepted by the taxpayer, the taxpayer pays the additional tax due, plus applicable accrued
interest thereon pursuant to R.S. 47:1601.
C. For purposes of this Section, the term "large corporation" means any corporation,
or predecessor corporation, which had taxable income of one million dollars or more for any
taxable year in the three taxable years immediately preceding the taxable year involved.
Amended by Acts 1958, No. 439, §1; Acts 1981, No. 845, §1, eff. Aug. 2, 1981; Acts
1986, No. 43, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1986; Acts 1987, No. 8, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1987; Acts 1995, No.
422, §1; Acts 1997, No. 248, §1, effective for taxable periods beginning after December 31,
1996; Acts 1997, No. 658, §2; Acts 2014, No. 198, §1, eff. July 1, 2014; Acts 2015, No. 128,
§1, eff. July 1, 2015; Acts 2015, No. 210, §1, eff. June 23, 2015; Acts 2020, No. 348, §1, eff.
Jan. 1, 2021.