Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 73 - Tax appeals commission and department of revenue.
73.015 - Review of determination of tax appeals commission.

73.015 Review of determination of tax appeals commission.
(1) This section shall provide the sole and exclusive remedy for review of any decision or order of the tax appeals commission and no person may contest, in any action or proceeding, any matter reviewable by the commission unless such person has first availed himself or herself of a hearing before the commission under s. 73.01 or has cross-appealed under s. 70.995 (8) (a).
(2) Any adverse determination of the tax appeals commission is subject to review in the manner provided in ch. 227. If the circuit court construes a statute adversely to the contention of the department of revenue, the department shall be deemed to acquiesce in the construction so adopted unless an appeal to the court of appeals is taken, and the construction so acquiesced in shall thereafter be followed by the department.
(3) Except for decisions and orders in small claims matters, as defined in s. 73.01 (1) (b), a conclusion of law or other holding in any decision or order of the tax appeals commission may be cited by the commission or the courts as authority unless that conclusion of law or holding has been reversed, overruled, or vacated on the merits on appeal or by a subsequent decision or order of the commission.
History: 1977 c. 29, 187; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 399; 2011 a. 68.
Because the commission is the final administrative authority that reviews the decisions of the Department of Revenue (DOR), any deference that might be due to the decision of an administrative agency is due to the commission, not DOR. Although this standard ordinarily applies in the context where there is a conflict between DOR's and the commission's construction of a tax statute, it also applies to the commission's construction of a tax rule. DOR v. Menasha Corp., 2008 WI 88, 311 Wis. 2d 579, 754 N.W.2d 95, 04-3239.
The commission is not required to give deference to the Department of Revenue's (DOR's) interpretation of rules drafted by DOR in proceedings before the commission. No authority exists for requiring the commission to defer to DOR's construction of its rule. To give DOR deference would ignore the boundaries that the legislature created when it gave the commission final authority over all tax questions. DOR v. Menasha Corp., 2008 WI 88, 311 Wis. 2d 579, 754 N.W.2d 95, 04-3239.
The legislature created the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission to afford a systematic method of fact finding and policy formation under the Wisconsin tax laws, and, under the primary jurisdiction doctrine, the courts should not unnecessarily interject themselves into this process. Parties may not avoid the commission by pleading rulemaking and constitutional claims in a case whose clear focus is the scope of tax law statutes. Wisconsin Property Tax Consultants, Inc. v. DOR, 2021 WI App 47, 398 Wis. 2d 654, 963 N.W.2d 103, 20-0485.

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