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ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: GREGORY F. ZOELLER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA KRISTEN M. KEMP NANCY M. HAUPTMAN DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL Indianapolis, IN

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: JOHN T. CASEY ATTORNEY AT LAW Rensselaer, IN

EDWARD P. DUMAS DUMAS, WEIST & MAHNESMITH Rensselaer, IN _____________________________________________________________________

IN THE INDIANA TAX COURT

FILED
Mar 24 2010, 3:24 pm
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

_____________________________________________________________________ CLERK INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF STATE ) REVENUE, INHERITANCE TAX ) DIVISION, ) ) Appellant, ) ) v. ) Cause No. 49T10-0906-TA-30 ) THE ESTATE OF MARJEAN M. OGLE, ) ) Appellee. ) _____________________________________________________________________ ON APPEAL FROM THE JASPER CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable John D. Potter, Judge Cause No. 37C01-0804-ES-187 FOR PUBLICATION March 24, 2010 FISHER, J. The Indiana Department of State Revenue, Inheritance Tax Division

(Department) appeals the Jasper Circuit Court's (probate court) order determining the Indiana inheritance tax liability of the Estate of Marjean M. Ogle (Estate). The issue before this Court is whether the probate court erred when it determined the Estate 's inheritance tax liability.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Marjean M. Ogle died on April 13, 2008. On October 20, 2008, the Estate filed its Indiana inheritance tax return, reporting a total tax liability of $1,488. Attached to the return was an appraisal, prepared by a local real estate broker, which valued Ogle's real estate at $395,000. On October 22, 2008, the Jasper County Inheritance Tax Appraiser issued its "Report of Appraiser," indicating that the information on the Estate's return was accurate. (See Appellant's App. Ex. A at 1.) Accordingly, the probate court issued an "Order Determining Inheritance Tax Due" (Order) that same day in the amount of $1,488. While the probate court issued its Order on the Department's prescribed form,1 the following additional language was inserted: "5% discount if paid before 01/13/2009; pay: $1,414[.]" (See Appellant's App. Ex. E at 1 (emphasis omitted) (footnote added).) On February 17, 2009, the Department filed a "Petition for Rehearing, Reappraisement and Redetermination of Inheritance Tax" (Petition) with the probate court. In its Petition, the Department complained that because the Estate's appraisal had not been prepared by a licensed appraiser and the Order's form had been altered to include the discount language, it could not "complete its audit . . . [and t]he amount of tax in controversy cannot be determined[.]" (Appellant's App. Ex. F at 1-2.) On May 18, 2009, after conducting a hearing on the matter, the probate court denied the Department's Petition. In so doing, the probate court found that while the parties' arguments focused on whether a real estate broker qualified as a licensed When a probate court issues an "Order Determining Inheritance Tax Due," it is required to use the Department's IH-9 Form. See IND. CODE ANN.

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Indiana Law