Berglund v. Comm'r of Revenue, A15–0957.

877 N.W.2d 780

Daniel L. BERGLUND, Relator,

v.COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE, Respondent.

No. A15–0957.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

April 13, 2016.

Daniel L. Berglund, Cottage Grove, MN, pro se.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Sara L. Bruggeman, Assistant Attorney General, Saint Paul, MN, for respondent.

Considered and decided by the court without oral argument.

OPINION

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

This case comes to us after the tax court denied an appeal in which relator Daniel L. Berglund challenged the validity of returns that the Commissioner of Revenue prepared and filed on his behalf. Berglund's challenge asserted that the commissioner-filed returns were invalid because the Commissioner did not sign them as required by Minn. R. 8160.0620 (2015). Because the relevant statutes do not require that the Commissioner sign commissioner-filed returns in order for those returns to be valid, we affirm.

On May 12, 2014, the Minnesota Department of Revenue notified Berglund that it was "[m]issing" income tax return[s] from him for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. The Department requested that Berglund "file [the missing] return[s] or explain why [he was] not required to file." The notices explained that if Berglund did not file the returns or provide sufficient reasons as to why he was not required to file, the Department would prepare returns on his behalf. See Minn.Stat. § 270C.33 (2014) (providing that the Commissioner may use "[c]ommissioner assessment procedures," such as preparing a commissioner-filed return, to impose tax liability when an individual fails to file a tax return). In response, Berglund stated that federal law does not impose liability for individual income taxes. Because he does not consider himself to be a person "required to file [an income tax] return" under the federal tax code, Berglund argued he was not a "taxpayer" under Minn.Stat. § 289A.08, subd. 1(a) (2014) (requiring a "taxpayer [to] file a [Minnesota] return for each taxable year that the taxpayer is required to file a return under section 6012 of the Internal Revenue Code").

Finding this to be an insufficient reason, the Department prepared and filed returns for Berglund and mailed him Notices of Commissioner Filed Returns for tax years 2008, 2009, and 2010. See Minn.Stat. § 270C.33, subd. 3 ("If a taxpayer fails to file a return, the commissioner ... may make and file a return for the taxpayer."). These notices informed Berglund that the Commissioner had prepared returns based on information available regarding Berglund's income and that the Department was authorized to collect the amount owed. In total, the Commissioner assessed approximately $668,840 in unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest for the 3–year period. The notices, which were signed by the Department's Assistant Director of the Income Tax and Withholding Division, also provided a breakdown of the taxes owed, noted Berglund's right to appeal the amount assessed, and included contact information for the Department.

After receiving these notices, Berglund contacted the Department and requested copies of the "original ... Commissioner Filed Returns." Explaining that a commissioner-filed return is not a paper document but is rather an electronic return on which "[t]he department inputs the [taxpayer's] income and calculates the amount of tax owed," a tax specialist mailed Berglund electronic printouts of the information contained in the returns at issue. She further stated that the printouts were the only available copies of the returns, but were nonetheless legally binding and valid.

Berglund appealed to the tax court, arguing that because the returns did not contain the Commissioner's signature, as required by Minn. R. 8160.0620, the returns were invalid and unenforceable. Specifically, because there had been no tax assessment, Berglund argued, the Commissioner "attempt[ed] to extort money from [him] under color of law" by threatening to collect the amount allegedly owed, and violated his due process rights by issuing a commissioner-filed return without a signature. The Commissioner moved for judgment on the pleadings under Minn. R. Civ. P. 12.03, asserting that Berglund's claim lacked a legal basis because no statute or rule requires that commissioner-filed returns be signed. The tax court granted the Commissioner's motion, finding that the returns were validly "made" and "assessed" pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 270C.62 (2014), and that the lack of a "manual signature" was of no consequence. This appeal follows.

On appeal, "[w]e review decisions from the Minnesota Tax Court to determine whether: (1) the tax court had jurisdiction; (2) the tax court's decision was supported by the evidence and was in conformity with the law; and (3) the tax court committed any other error of law." Conga Corp. v. Comm'r of Revenue, 868 N.W.2d 41, 46 (Minn.2015) (citing Minn.Stat. § 271.10, subd. 1 (2014) ). We review the tax court's legal conclusions de novo, Eden Prairie Mall, LLC v. Cty. of Hennepin, 830 N.W.2d 16, 20 (Minn.2013), and review the tax court's factual findings to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the court's decision, Conga Corp., 868 N.W.2d at 46.

I.

The parties' arguments involve the proper interpretation of a statute and an implementing rule. The proper interpretation of statutes and rules is a question of law that we review de novo. Conga Corp., 868 N.W.2d at 46 ; In re Rate Appeal of Benedictine Health Ctr., 728 N.W.2d 497, 503 (Minn.2007). Berglund relies on Minn. R. 8160.0620, which provides that "[f]or the purposes of this part ... ‘[t]he filing date’ of a commissioner filed return means the date the commissioner filed return is signed by the commissioner," and "[t]he filing date constitutes the date of assessment of the tax." Id., subps. 1, 7. Berglund asserts that in the absence of a signature, there is no "filing date" or "date of assessment," and that without an assessment date, the taxes have not been assessed.

The Commissioner disagrees and argues that the taxes were assessed when the commissioner-filed returns were made. The Commissioner contends that the "date of assessment" for commissioner-filed returns is not dependent on the Commissioner's signature. Rather than relying on the rule Berglund cites, the Commissioner argues that the assessment date for the returns at issue is set by statute as the "date of the return made by the commissioner." See Minn.Stat. §§ 270C.33, 270C.62. The Commissioner contends that these statutes do not require the Commissioner to sign the returns and asserts that these statutes supersede Minn. R. 8160.0620. We agree with the Commissioner.

Minnesota Statutes § 270C.62 defines the "date of assessment" for purposes of the tax collection provisions of Chapter 270C. As applied to commissioner-filed returns, the " ‘date of assessment’ means the date ... of the return made by the Commissioner." Id. Minnesota Statutes § 270C.33, subd. 1, which deals more broadly with commissioner assessment procedures, further notes that "[a]ll orders and decisions ... respecting any tax, assessment, or other obligation, must be in writing and entered into the records of the commissioner" to be valid. The Legislature did not mention a signing requirement in either provision, and we cannot read such a requirement into the statute. Rohmiller v. Hart, 811 N.W.2d 585, 590 (Minn.2012) ("We cannot add words or meaning to a statute that were intentionally or inadvertently omitted.").¹

Moreover, in contrast to the provisions related to commissioner-filed returns, the Legislature requires signatures for other types of assessment documents. For example, the provision for "[o]rders of assessment," which immediately follows the commissioner-filed-return provision, requires the Commissioner to sign such orders. Minn.Stat. § 270C.33, subd. 4 (stating that "order[s] of assessment" require the signature of the Commissioner or a delegate if the change in tax liability is more than $1,000).² Similarly, Minn.Stat. § 270C.88, subd. 1 (2014) requires all orders and decisions pertaining to property taxes to be signed if the amount owed exceeds $1,000. Id. (requiring "[a]ny order or decision of the commissioner" to "bear [a] written signature or facsimile signature"). In light of the signature requirements for these other assessment procedures, the absence of similar language for commissioner-filed returns indicates that the validity of commissioner-filed returns does not depend on a signature. Had the Legislature intended to require the Commissioner's signature for commissioner-filed returns, it would have done so explicitly just as it did for orders of assessment and property tax assessments. See Seagate Tech., LLC v. W. Dig., 854 N.W.2d 750, 759 (Minn.2014) (noting that "a condition expressly mentioned in one clause of a subdivision provides evidence that the Legislature did not intend for the condition to apply to other clauses in which the condition is not stated"); see also N. States Power Co. v. Comm'r of Revenue, 571 N.W.2d 573, 575–76 (Minn.1997) ("When the legislature changes a statute, the courts are to presume that the legislature intends a change in the law....").

Based on the plain language of Minn.Stat. §§ 270C.33, subd. 3, and 270C.62, we hold that the date of assessment for a commissioner-filed return does not depend on or require the Commissioner's signature. Rather, under these provisions, the taxes are assessed when the commissioner-filed return is "made," Minn.Stat. § 270C.62, and such returns are made when they exist "in writing" and are "entered into the records of the commissioner," Minn.Stat. § 270C.33, subd. 1. Cf. Schober v. Comm'r of Revenue, 853 N.W.2d 102, 107 (Minn.2013) (establishing that an order is appealable if it is written and entered into the records of the Commissioner).

It is true, as Berglund argues, that under the administrative rules, there is no assessment date without a signature. Minnesota Rule 8160.0620, subpart 1, defines a...