(a) Any person believing that he has overpaid any taxes due under this chapter may file a claim for refund in writing with the commissioner within three years from the due date for which such overpayment was made stating the specific grounds upon which the claim is founded. Failure to file a claim within the time prescribed in this section constitutes a waiver of any demand against the state on account of overpayment. The commissioner shall review such claim within a reasonable time and, if he determines a refund is due, he shall credit the overpayment against any amount then due and payable from the person under this chapter or any other act administered by the commissioner and the balance shall be refunded, upon order of the Comptroller, to the person. If the commissioner determines that such claim is not valid, either in whole or in part, he shall mail notice of the proposed disallowance to the claimant, which notice shall set forth briefly the commissioner's findings of fact and the basis of disallowance in each case decided in whole or in part adversely to the claimant. Sixty days after the date on which it is mailed, a notice of proposed disallowance shall constitute a final disallowance except only for such amounts as to which the claimant has filed, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a written protest with the commissioner.

(b) On or before the sixtieth day after the mailing of the proposed disallowance, the claimant may file with the commissioner a written protest against the proposed disallowance in which the claimant sets forth the grounds on which the protest is based. If a protest is filed, the commissioner shall reconsider the proposed disallowance and, if the claimant has so requested, may grant or deny the claimant or the claimant's authorized representatives an oral hearing.

(c) The commissioner shall mail notice of his determination to the claimant, which notice shall set forth briefly the commissioner's findings of fact and the basis of decision in each case decided in whole or in part adversely to the claimant.

(d) The action of the commissioner on the claimant's protest shall be final upon the expiration of one month from the date on which he mails notice of his action to the claimant unless within such period the claimant seeks judicial review of the commissioner's determination pursuant to section 12-554.

(1971, P.A. 837, S. 13; P.A. 95-4, S. 5, 8; P.A. 97-243, S. 60, 67.)

History: P.A. 95-4 permitted commissioner to credit overpayments against any other amounts due to the department and to refund balance, replacing authority to “act in accordance with section 12-549”, effective April 13, 1995; P.A. 97-243 divided section into Subsecs. (a) to (d) and added provision for an administrative hearing with the department before taking an appeal to the Superior Court, established the time for filing a claim and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1997, and applicable to claims for refund filed on or after said date.