Tax appeals expected to increase in Wisconsin.

• Author: Pribek, Jane

Byline: Jane Pribek

Wisconsin's three-member Tax Appeals Commission is bracing for a busy 2010.

For starters, the docket is becoming much more crowded.

The commission's last biennial report, which looked at numbers at the close of June 2009, found filings had been fairly consistent over the past five years. In Fiscal Year 2008-2009, for example, 225 cases were filed, as compared to 2007-08's total of 209.

But, Chairperson David C. Swanson said, We have seen an increase for the calendar year '09, especially in the second half. We're definitely ahead of where we were last year at this time. By [the beginning of] November, we'd already hit where we were in calendar year '08.

Swanson added that typically, filings mirror trends in the economy, with about a year of lag time. Given that, he expects the increase in filings to continue well into 2010 and possibly beyond.

Another sign of a weak economy is more pro se litigants, and Swanson said the Commission is gearing up for more of those in the coming months, too.

The small claims cases tend to be pro se. Or we see cases where people are represented by tax accountants, or even family members.

The good news is that those individuals tend to do a pretty good job, said Swanson. But because pro se cases almost never get submitted on motions, they are more likely to go to a hearing. And this requires more commission resources -- both commissioner time to hear them, and time for staff to walk the fine line of explaining the procedures without giving legal advice.

In the cases where parties are represented, another trend is emerging. Swanson wrote in the agency's most recent biennial report, Recent experience indicates that the Commission's caseload continues to be dominated by the more complicated appeals, which require an expenditure of a greater amount of time and resources to resolve.

There's one additional wrinkle for 2010: In January, the Commission plans to submit proposed rules to the Legislature.

Their aim is to update the rules -- for example to allow for the e-filing of certain documents -- and to codify a sizeable number of the commissioners' existing practices. The proposed rules (and the existing rules) can be found on the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission page at Wisbar.org.

Agency basics and practice pointers

The primary function of the tax appeals commission is to hear and decide disputes between taxpayers and the Departments of Revenue and Transportation. The most common matters involve...