Sections 13a, 32a, 41
REIMBURSING EMPLOYER STATUS, Late protest, Finality, One year limit, Equitable relief
CITE AS: Contemporary Life Services v MESC, unpublished per curiam Court of Appeals, May 24, 1994 (No. 151027).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: N/A
Employer: Contemporary Life Services
Docket No. L89-07129-2075
COURT OF APPEALS HOLDING: Where employer requested reclassification from contributing to reimbursing status more than one year after notice of determination of status was mailed, the one year limitation bars retroactive reconsideration of employer's status.
FACTS: Employer was classified as a contributing employer for failure to answer question 7 on form MESC 1010 even though elsewhere on that form the employer attested it was a tax exempt entity under 26USC 501(a). The instructions for question 7 specifically stated failure to answer would result in classification as a contributing employer. Determination of contributing employer status was mailed on January 31, 1986. Thereafter, employer failed to file quarterly reports and received notice of this lapse on March 8, 1989. Employer requested reclassification on March 16, 1989. Employer had accumulated arrearages of unpaid unemployment payroll taxes between 1985 and 1989. Employer argued one year time limit should be tolled until March 8, 1989, or that the time limit should be extended on equitable grounds.
DECISION: Employer's request for redetermination time barred under Section 32a.
RATIONALE: The March 16, 1989 letter was not filed within a year of the January 31, 1986 determination. Also, the employer was not entitled to equitable relief since it set the chain of events in motion by failing to properly complete form MESC 1010. Employer should have known when it received quarterly report forms that something was amiss. Employer is presumed to know the law as it relates to the operation of its business.
7/99
3, 11: N/A