Sec. 12-268h. Delinquent taxes; interest; collection. Receipt and disposition of funds.

(a) To any taxes which are assessed under chapter 210, 211 or 212 or this chapter with respect to gross earnings of any company or municipal utility for any taxable period, there shall be added interest at the rate of one per cent per month or fraction thereof which elapses from the date when the original tax became due and payable. The amount of any tax, penalty or interest due and unpaid by any such company under the provisions of chapter 210, 211 or 212 or this chapter may be collected under the provisions of section 12-35. The warrant therein provided for shall be signed by the commissioner or his authorized agent. The amount of any such tax, penalty and interest shall be a lien, from the last day of such taxable quarter until discharged by payment, against all real estate of the company within the state, and a certificate of such lien signed by the commissioner may be filed for record in the office of the clerk of any town in which such real estate is situated and such lien shall take precedence over any other encumbrance, provided no such lien shall be effective as against any bona fide purchaser or qualified encumbrancer of any interest in any such property, provided the amount of any tax, penalty and interest due under chapter 210, shall be a lien, taking precedence over all other encumbrances, against real estate used exclusively for railroad purposes. When any tax with respect to which a lien has been recorded under the provisions of this section has been satisfied, the commissioner, upon request of any interested party, shall issue a certificate discharging such lien, which certificate shall be recorded in the same office in which the lien was recorded. Any action for the foreclosure of such lien shall be brought by the Attorney General in the name of the state in the superior court for the judicial district in which such property subject to such lien is situated, or, if such property is located in two or more judicial districts, in the superior court for any one such judicial district, and the court may limit the time for redemption or order the sale of such property or pass such other or further decree as it judges equitable.

(b) The taxes imposed by chapters 210, 211 and 212 shall be payable to the Commissioner of Revenue Services. All funds received by the Commissioner of Revenue Services under the provisions of said chapters shall be recorded with the Comptroller and shall be deposited daily with the State Treasurer. The commissioner shall issue his receipt to any taxpayer for any payment upon request.

(1961, P.A. 604, S. 24; 1969, P.A. 388, S. 7; P.A. 76-114, S. 15, 21; 76-322, S. 7, 27; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 4, 127; P.A. 80-307, S. 11, 31; P.A. 81-411, S. 19, 42; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-4, S. 5, 32; P.A. 82-325, S. 3, 7; P.A. 85-501, S. 3; P.A. 87-124, S. 11, 18; P.A. 88-314, S. 11, 54; P.A. 95-26, S. 7, 52.)

History: 1969 act increased interest rate from 0.5% to 0.75% per month; P.A. 76-114 substituted “taxable quarter” for “year” and increased interest rate to 1%, effective July 1, 1976, and applicable to gross earnings in calendar quarter commencing January 1, 1977, and each calendar quarter thereafter; P.A. 76-322 also increased interest rate to 1%; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district(s)” for “county(ies)”; P.A. 80-307 temporarily increased interest rate to 1.25% for taxes due on or after July 1, 1980, but not later than June 30, 1981; P.A. 81-411 continued interest on delinquent taxes under Subsec. (a) at 1.25% per month, effective July 1, 1981, and applicable to taxes becoming due on or after that date; Nov. Sp. Sess. P.A. 81-4 and P.A. 82-325 raised interest rate in Subsec. (a) from 1.25% to 1.66% per month, effective February 1, 1982, and applicable to taxes payable to the state which first become due on or after that date; P.A. 85-501 provided lien shall not be effective against a qualified encumbrancer as defined in Sec. 12-35b, deleting reference to purchasers and encumbrancers to whom property was transferred between last day of taxable quarter and date lien is recorded; P.A. 87-124 amended Subsec. (a) to insert references to chapter 210 concerning taxation of railroad companies, effective January 1, 1988, and applicable with respect to the tax imposed under chapter 210 on gross earnings in the calendar year ending December 31, 1987, and in each calendar year thereafter; P.A. 88-314 added technical amendments concerning applicable interest if the tax is not paid when due, effective July 1, 1988, and applicable to any tax which first becomes due and payable on or after said date, to any return or report due on or after said date, or in the case of any ongoing obligation imposed in accordance with said act, to the tax period next beginning on or after said date; P.A. 95-26 amended Subsec. (a) to lower interest rate from 1.66% to 1%, effective July 1, 1995, and applicable to taxes due and owing on or after July 1, 1995, whether or not those taxes first became due before said date; (Revisor's note: In 2003 a reference in Subsec. (a) to “chapter 210, 211, 212 or 212a” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “chapter 210, 211 or 212 or this chapter”).

See Sec. 4-32 re state revenue accounting procedure.