New rule adopted for closing tax refund hearings
RENO -- Taxpayers who want their requests for tax refunds to be heard behind closed doors will have to make a case to the state to support shutting the public out of the process under a new regulation adopted Monday.
The new rule is a reversal of past practice where the Tax Commission could move into closed session simply at the request of a taxpayer.
The regulation was adopted by the commission to implement legislation sought earlier this year to clear up inconsistencies between two laws: the state's open meeting law, which requires proceedings to be held in public, and a separate law requiring proprietary taxpayer information to be kept confidential by the agency.
Months in the drafting, the measure was approved with only a few comments from the public and commissioners.
Both Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, and Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, said the regulation satisfactorily resolves the inconsistencies between the two laws.
Taxation Commission Chairman Thom Sheets said the rule will "let the sun shine in" while protecting legitimately private taxpayer information.
"I think this is a great ending to what was a difficult story to start with," he said.
The new rule requires a taxpayer in most cases to request a closed hearing in writing at least two weeks before the matter is considered. The request must include a list or summary of the information the taxpayer believes to be proprietary or confidential.
The Tax Department can object to the request for a closed hearing.
The commission must then consider the information in a closed hearing to determine if it qualifies as confidential. If found to be confidential, the commission may discuss and consider the information in closed session, but any vote regarding a refund must take place in an open session.
A taxpayer who fails to request a closed hearing as specified in the regulation will be considered as having waived the right for such consideration.
