W.S. § 39-11-102 — 39-11-102

Administration; confidentiality; department of
revenue.
(a) Taxpayer rights. The following provisions shall apply
to this act:
(i) The department shall publish and make available a
list of taxpayer rights in the area of state tax administration
and collection, written in plain language, which includes the
following rights:
(A) A right to taxpayer information services
including a location where taxpayers may request copies of
public records or obtain explanations of billings and
information about their rights and responsibilities;
(B) A right to assurance that no employee of the
state shall receive a bonus, be promoted or in any way rewarded
on the basis of the amount of assessments or collections from
taxpayers;
(C) A right to confidentiality as to records
protected against disclosure by statute;
(D) A right, if a tax has accrued penalty and
interest because the taxpayer relied on erroneous written
information or written answers from the state, that the penalty
and interest shall not be assessed, provided that the pertinent
facts and circumstances disclosed by the taxpayer were
substantially correct and complete;
(E) A right to enter into installment payment
agreements on tax assessments for tax liabilities where
repayment requirements are met and where payment in a lump sum
would cause severe inconvenience to the taxpayer;
(F) A right to assessment notices that describe
in plain terms the basis for assessments and describe the
procedures for appeal.
(ii) Any taxpayer may bring an action to enjoin any
violation of the rights provided by paragraph (i) of this
subsection. The list of taxpayer rights and enforcement
provisions provided in this section are supplemental to other
rights provided by law.
(b) The department of revenue is created pursuant to W.S.
9-2-2007. The governor shall appoint a director who shall
exercise all management authority over agency personnel. The
director may formulate the policies and programs to be carried
out by the department through its respective divisions and adopt
suitable rules and regulations pursuant to the provisions of the
Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.
(c) In addition to the other powers and duties imposed by
law, the department shall:
(i) Coordinate collection of state taxes,
assessments, licenses, fees and other monies as designated by
law;
(ii) Insure specialized service for tax enforcements,
through establishment and maintenance of uniformity in
definition, regulation, return and payment;
(iii) Insure avoidance of duplication in state
facilities for tax collections that involve seasonal or
occasional increases of staff, duplication of audits and
wasteful travel expenses;
(iv) Safeguard tax and other collections wherever
received until duly deposited in the state treasury;
(v) Provide an advisory service on fiscal status,
processes and needs of state government, including periodic
reports on payments, receipts and debts;
(vi) Designate divisions to enforce the laws of this
state relating to collections of taxes, fees and all monies, and
to delegate the authority necessary to the heads of the
divisions to enforce state laws;
(vii) Prescribe standard procedures for receiving,
receipting, safeguarding and periodically reporting all state
revenue receipts, whether current, delinquent, penalty,
interest, refunds or otherwise, and the amounts, kinds and terms
of items, either collected or still outstanding, to be
summarized, studied and reported;
(viii) Specify the amount of land for mines or mining
claims to which the ad valorem tax or assessment of coal lands
provisions of the constitution apply. For purposes of this
paragraph, all real and tangible personal property used
underground in mining or used within the well in oil or gas
exploration or production which historically has not been
assessed and taxed based on the 1941 and 1963 attorney general
opinions and which remains underground until its value is
consumed in the production of the mineral shall be considered
part of the mine or mining claim to which the ad valorem tax
applies. The taxpayer may remove the equipment from underground
for repair or to meet statutory or regulatory requirements, and
such removal shall not be considered by the assessor in
determining whether the property shall be separately assessed.
The following apply to underground equipment:
(A) Equipment which is permanently underground
is not subject to separate assessment;
(B) Equipment which is intended or otherwise
designed to be consumed underground in the production of the
mineral shall not be separately assessed for taxation during the
normal course of mining or oil or gas exploration or production;
(C) Except as provided by this paragraph,
equipment which is removed from underground shall be treated as
tangible personal property and assessed accordingly.
(ix) Require persons to furnish information
concerning all relevant matters pertaining to property owned by
them for purposes of taxation;
(x) Furnish the governor all information he may
require relative to tax matters, and annually transmit to the
governor on or before the third Monday of December and to each
member of the legislature on or before the second Tuesday in
January, the report of the department for the year showing in
tabulated form all taxable property in the state and its value;
(xi) Require the attorney general or district
attorneys in their respective districts to assist in the
commencement and prosecution of actions and proceedings for
penalties, forfeitures, removals and punishments for violations
of the laws of the state respecting the assessment and taxation
of property, and to represent the department or board in any
litigation in which they may become involved in the discharge of
their duties;
(xii) Decide all questions that may arise with
reference to the construction of any statute affecting the
assessment, levy and collection of taxes, in accordance with the
rules, regulations, orders and instructions prescribed by the
department;
(xiii) Institute or cause to be instituted any
proceedings, either civil or criminal, provided by law as a
punishment for the neglect, failure or refusal to obey any
lawful requirement or order by the department, or to prevent the
violation or disobedience of any lawful requirement or order, or
to compel their enforcement;
(xiv) Prescribe forms for uniform schedules,
consistent with W.S. 39-13-103(b)(viii), rolls and other
documents, and draft and require the use of a standard form of
tax notice by each of the several counties to uniformly
designate, detail and total the levies and valuations
established within the counties;
(xv) Prescribe the system of establishing the fair
market value of all property valued for property taxation to
ensure that all property within a class is uniformly valued. The
county assessor and the facilities of his office, together with
the deputy assessors and clerical assistants in each county, at
the direction of the department, shall give full aid in the
installation of the prescribed system in the county. The county
shall also furnish the necessary supplies and records for
installing the system;
(xvi) Confer with, advise and give necessary
instructions and directions to county assessors as to their
duties under the laws of the state. The department or its
designee shall officially visit each county of the state
annually and inquire into the method of assessment and taxation
and ascertain whether the assessors faithfully discharge their
duties, particularly as to their compliance with the laws
requiring the assessment of all property not exempt from
taxation;
(xvii) Direct proceedings, actions and prosecutions
to be instituted to enforce the laws relating to the liability
and punishment of persons for failure or neglect to comply with
the provisions of the laws of this state governing the return,
assessment and taxation of property, and cause complaints to be
made against county assessors, members of county boards of
equalization, or any other assessing or taxing officers, to the
proper authority, for their removal from office for misconduct
or neglect of duty;
(xviii) Monitor the work in progress in the office of
each county assessor to determine that procedures and formulae
promulgated by the department are being strictly observed and
applied;
(xix) Promulgate rules and regulations consistent
with the provisions hereof as provided by the Wyoming
Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to the enforcement of
the provisions of any or all tax and other revenue measures
which are administered by the department;
(xx) Promulgate rules and regulations under which the
department may offset any taxes or fees due and payable under
title 39, Wyoming statutes and any taxes or fees due and payable
to a state agency under title 31, Wyoming statutes, from any
other funds owed to the taxpayer by the state or any political
subdivision thereof. All state agencies and political
subdivisions in Wyoming are subject to these rules with regard
to the department's offset authority;
(xxi) Map and keep record of the geographical
boundaries for all governmental entities with authority to levy
property taxes, for administration of tax districts;
(xxii) Map and keep record of the geographical
boundaries for all special districts in the state;
(xxiii) Review boundaries for proposed special
districts pursuant to W.S. 22-29-109(a);
(xxiv) Promulgate rules and regulations as provided
by the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, necessary to map
and keep record of the geographical boundaries for all special
districts and governmental entities with the authority to levy
or require the levy of property taxes. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, no special district or governmental
entity with authority to levy or require the levy of property
taxes shall levy any property taxes unless in compliance with
the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this
subsection; and
(xxv) Promulgate rules and regulations as provided by
the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act to be followed by all
county assessors to ensure the use of appropriate statistical
tests for assessed values of residential properties to protect
against the statistical likelihood that any property in any
stratum is over assessed.
(d) The following shall be adopted in accordance with the
requirements and procedures of the Wyoming Administrative
Procedure Act:
(i) Adoption of any manual, formula, method or system
to be used to determine the fair market value of property for
tax purposes;
(ii) Adoption of standards, guidelines, criteria or
methods to implement paragraph (c)(xv) of this section.
(e) The enumeration of specific actions or decisions which
must be implemented by a properly adopted rule set forth in
subsection (d) of this section is not exclusive and does not
limit in any way the applicability of the Wyoming Administrative
Procedure Act to other actions or decisions of the department.