MCA Chapter 4

in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 27-4-1 Board of Tax Appeals; appointment, qualifications, terms of office, oath, bond, removal from office, and compensation of members.

The Board of Tax Appeals is established as an independent agency which shall not in any way be subject to the supervision or control of the Department of Revenue. The Board of Tax Appeals shall consist of three (3) members: a chairman and two (2) associate members.Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the chairman and associate members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.Each member of the board shall be a qualified elector, shall have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, and shall possess a special knowledge of taxation and revenue in the State of Mississippi.The members of the Board of Tax Appeals, while holding office, shall not engage in any other occupation or business interfering with or inconsistent with their official duties on the board. The initial term of the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals shall begin on July 1, 2010, and expire on June 30, 2016.The initial term of one (1) associate member of the board shall expire June 30, 2012.The initial term of the other associate member shall expire June 30, 2014.Upon the expiration of the initial terms, the term of office of each member shall be for six (6) years, or until his successor is appointed and qualified.The Governor shall include in his appointment of the chairman and associate members the expiration date of each appointment.Vacancies shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which the vacancy occurs. No person appointed by the Governor to the Board of Tax Appeals shall be eligible to take office unless his name shall have been submitted to the Mississippi Senate for its advice and consent at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled adjournment of the regular session of the Legislature being held in the calendar year in which the term of the office of the incumbent shall expire; however, if for any reason an appointment is not given the advice and consent of the Mississippi Senate prior to the adjournment of such regular session, the Governor may submit another appointment at any time to the Mississippi Senate for its advice and consent at a regular or extraordinary session of the Legislature. The foregoing prohibition shall not apply when a vacancy shall occur by death or resignation of the incumbent. On July 1, 2010, the Associate Commissioner of the State Tax Commission whose appointment as associate commissioner has an expiration date of June 30, 2012, shall fill the position of the associate member of the Board of Tax Appeals whose term expires on June 30, 2012.On July 1, 2010, the Associate Commissioner of the State Tax Commission whose appointment as associate commissioner has an expiration date of June 30, 2014, shall fill the position of the associate member of the Board of Tax Appeals whose term expires on June 30, 2014. This change of positions from an Associate Commissioner of the State Tax Commission to an associate member of the Board of Tax Appeals shall be treated as a continuation of the same appointment without the need for an additional appointment by the Governor or the advice and consent of the Senate. Each member of the Board of Tax Appeals shall, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution and shall file the oath in the Office of the Secretary of State, and each member, including the chairman, shall execute a bond in some surety company authorized to do business in the state, to be approved by the Governor, and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State in the penal sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), conditioned for the faithful and impartial discharge of the duties of his office.The premium on the bonds shall be paid as provided by law out of funds appropriated to the Board of Tax Appeals. The members of the Board of Tax Appeals are not subject to removal from office other than by impeachment or by removal from office as provided for under Section 25-5-1, except that in addition to such impeachment and removal, a member of the Board of Tax Appeals may also be removed from office for a criminal conviction for violating the Internal Revenue Code. It is the duty of the Department of Finance and Administration to provide suitable and adequate quarters and equipment for the Board of Tax Appeals, for the executive director and employees of the board and for filing their records, books and papers. The members of the Board of Tax Appeals shall receive an annual salary fixed by the State Personnel Board.The actual traveling expenses of the board members, the executive director of the board and the employees of the board incurred in the performance of their official duties shall be allowed, and such salaries and expenses shall be payable out of funds appropriated for the expenses of the Board of Tax Appeals.

Miss. Code Ann. § 27-4-3 Powers, duties and jurisdiction of the Board of Tax Appeals.

The Board of Tax Appeals shall have the following powers and duties: To adopt, amend or repeal those rules or regulations necessary to implement the duties assigned to the board. To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals to the board from decisions of the review board and administrative hearing officers of the Department of Revenue under Sections 27-77-5, 27-77-9, 27-77-11 and 27-77-12, to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal, and where required, to arrange for any evidence presented to the board at such hearing to be transcribed or otherwise preserved for purposes of making a record of the hearing. To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals regarding certain decisions and actions by the Department of Revenue under the Local Option Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, Section 67-1-1 et seq., and under the Mississippi Native Wine Law of 1976, Section 67-5-1 et seq., as provided for under Section 67-1-72, to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal and to arrange for any evidence presented to the board at such hearing to be transcribed or otherwise preserved for purposes of making a record of the hearing. To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals under Sections 27-33-37 and 27-33-41 to the board from decisions of the Department of Revenue to deny an objection of a board of supervisors to the rejection by the Department of Revenue of an application for homestead exemption and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal. To have jurisdiction over all administrative appeals under Section 27-35-113 to the board from the decision of the Department of Revenue regarding its examination of the recapitulations of the assessment rolls of a county and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such appeal. To have jurisdiction to hear any objection to an assessment by the Department of Revenue pursuant to Section 27-35-311, 27-35-517 or 27-35-703 and to arrange the time and place of the hearing on any such objection. To perform all other duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed upon the board by law. To obtain, review, receive into evidence and/or otherwise examine and consider applications, returns, reports and any particulars set forth or disclosed in any application report or return required on any taxes collected by reports received by the Department of Revenue and any other documents and information received, generated and/or maintained by the Department of Revenue. The authority of the board under this paragraph is not barred or otherwise restricted by the confidentiality of such documents and information under Sections 27-3-73, 27-7-83, 27-13-57 and/or 27-65-81, and the disclosure of such documents and information to the board shall be an exception to the prohibition on disclosure of such documents and information contained in Sections 27-3-73, 27-7-83, 27-13-57 and/or 27-65-81. Each member of the board is empowered to administer and certify oaths. Each member of the board is empowered to perform all other duties which are now or may hereafter be imposed on him by law.

Miss. Code Ann. § 27-4-5 Executive director of the Board of Tax Appeals; qualifications, powers, duties and responsibilities; removal from office.

Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals shall appoint an executive director of the board who will serve at the will and pleasure of the chairman, but the executive director is subject to removal from office as provided for under Section 25-5-1; however, the executive director may also be removed from office for a criminal conviction for violating the Internal Revenue Code. The executive director shall be admitted to practice law in this state and have a familiarity with the tax appeals process sufficient to fulfill the duties of the office of executive director. The salary of the executive director shall be set by the State Personnel Board. The executive director shall devote full time to the duties assigned to him by the board and/or its chairman. The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall keep the minutes of the board and make a record of all official orders, findings and acts of the board. The executive director shall file and preserve as a record, all papers, exhibits and documents, filed with the board in any proceeding before it, and shall perform such other duties as the chairman of the board may direct. He shall certify copies of such records as are in his custody, and such copies, when so certified, shall be accepted in all matters equally and in like manner as the original. The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall direct and supervise the preparation of any record of a hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals to be filed in any court of the state. The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals is hereby empowered to employ clerical personnel, stenographers and such other assistants and/or attorneys as he may deem necessary for the proper discharge of his duties and the duties of the Board of Tax Appeals. The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall also have the following powers: To supervise and direct all administrative and technical activities of the Board of Tax Appeals; To make, execute and effectuate any and all agreements or contracts, including contracts for the purchase of goods and services, as are necessary; To enter into long-term or multiyear leases of real property with other state agencies; To perform such other acts he deems necessary to carry out the duties assigned to him by the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals or imposed on him by law. On July 1, 2010, the person who immediately prior to that date held the position of Secretary of the State Tax Commission shall fill the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals. This change of positions from the Secretary of the State Tax Commission to the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall be treated as a continuation of the same position with the position being transferred from the State Tax Commission to the Board of Tax Appeals with the effective date of such transfer being July 1, 2010. Upon assuming the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals on July 1, 2010, this person, who had previously been Secretary of the State Tax Commission, shall serve in the position of Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals at the will and pleasure of the Chairman of the Board of Tax Appeals and will be subject to removal from that position as set out in subsection (1) of this section. Since the Board of Tax Appeals is the successor to the three-member State Tax Commission in regard to administrative appeals, the Secretary of the State Tax Commission shall take with him, when he assumes the position of the Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals, all minutes and orders of the three-member State Tax Commission and all papers, exhibits and documents filed with the three-member State Tax Commission that had been previously preserved as a record of that body by the Secretary of the State Tax Commission and shall continue to preserve these minutes, orders and records of the three-member State Tax Commission in accordance with any record retention schedule established for such records. He shall continue to perform any other duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of the State Tax Commission in regard to these minutes, orders and records, including, but not limited to, certifying copies of such records, and such copies, when so certified, shall be accepted in all matters equally and in like manner as the original.

Miss. Code Ann. § 27-4-7 Board of Tax Appeals seal.

The Board of Tax Appeals shall have a seal which shall be in the form of a circle with the image of an eagle in the center and around the margin the words: “Mississippi Board of Tax Appeals,” and under the image of the eagle the word: “Official.” The seal, in the discretion of the executive director of the board, may be of a raised or engraved design or printed. The Executive Director of the Board of Tax Appeals shall affix the seal prescribed herein to every document where it is required by law, and to every certificate and other official paper executed by him or the board where necessary or proper. All documents authenticated with the seal and signed by the executive director shall be received as evidence in all courts, investigations and proceedings authorized by law, and may be recorded in the same manner and with like effect as a deed. All copies of papers in the office of the board, certified by him and authenticated by the seal, shall be accepted in all matters equally and in like manner as the original.

Miss. Code Ann. § 27-4-9 Meetings; quorum.

The Board of Tax Appeals shall meet at least one (1) day in each month, or more frequently if called by the chairman of the board, at such place as may be designated by the chairman, for the purpose of hearing and considering matters necessary to facilitate the performance of its duties. Any two (2) members of the board shall constitute a quorum, and if two (2) members be unavoidably absent, such fact shall be noted on the minutes and all matters for consideration shall be continued to the next meeting.