(1) Any license or permit issued by the department under the motor fuel laws may be suspended for the following reasons:

(a) Cancellation of security;

(b) Failure to provide additional security as required;

(c) Failure to file any report or return, filing an incomplete report or return, or not filing electronically, within the time provided;

(d) Failure to pay taxes due within the time provided;

(e) Filing of any false report, return, statement, or affidavit, knowing it to be false;

(f) Delivering motor fuel to a Nebraska destination if Nebraska is not listed as the destination state on the original bill of sale, bill of lading, or manifest except as authorized under section 66-503;

(g) Failure to remain in compliance with requirements of the State Fire Marshal regarding underground storage tanks;

(h) Failure to remain in compliance with requirements of the Department of Agriculture regarding weights and measures;

(i) Using or placing dyed diesel fuel in a motor vehicle except as authorized under section 66-495.01;

(j) No longer being eligible to obtain a license or permit; or

(k) Any other violation of the motor fuel laws or the rules and regulations.

(2) The department shall mail notice of suspension of any license or permit.

(3) The licensee or permitholder may, within sixty days after the mailing of the notice of such suspension, petition the Department of Revenue in writing for a hearing and reconsideration of such suspension. If a petition is filed, the department shall, within ten days of receipt of the petition, set a hearing date at which the licensee or permitholder may show cause why his or her suspended license or permit should not be canceled. The department shall give the licensee or permitholder reasonable notice of the time and place of such hearing. Within a reasonable time after the conclusion of the hearing, the department shall issue an order either reinstating or canceling such license or permit.

(4) If a petition is not filed within the sixty-day period, the suspended license or permit shall be canceled by the department at the expiration of the period.

(5) The department shall not issue a new permit or license to the same person for one year from the date of cancellation. Any reissuance of a permit or license to the same person within three years from the date of cancellation shall require a reinstatement fee of one hundred dollars to be submitted to the department. The department shall remit the fee to the State Treasurer for credit to the Highway Cash Fund.

(6) Suspension or cancellation of a license or permit issued by the department shall not relieve any person from making or filing the reports or returns required by the motor fuel laws in the manner or within the time required.

All notices by the department required by the motor fuel laws shall be mailed to the address of the licensee or permitholder as shown on the records of the department.

(1) As soon as practical after a return is filed, the department shall examine it to determine the correct amount of tax. If the department finds that the amount of tax shown on the return is less than the correct amount, it shall notify the taxpayer of the amount of the deficiency determined.

(2) If any person fails to file a return or has improperly purchased motor fuel without the payment of tax, the department shall estimate the person's liability from any available information and notify the person of the amount of the deficiency determined.

(3) The amount of the deficiency determined shall constitute a final assessment together with interest and penalties sixty days after the date on which notice was mailed to the taxpayer at his or her last-known address unless a written protest is filed with the department within such sixty-day period.

(4) The final assessment provisions of this section shall constitute a final decision of the agency for purposes of the Administrative Procedure Act.

(5) An assessment made by the department shall be presumed to be correct. In any case when the validity of the assessment is questioned, the burden shall be on the person who challenges the assessment to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the assessment is erroneous or excessive.

(6)(a) Except in the case of a fraudulent return or of neglect or refusal to make a return, the notice of a proposed deficiency determination shall be mailed within three years after the twentieth day of the month following the end of the period for which the amount proposed is to be determined or within three years after the return is filed, whichever period expires later.

(b) The taxpayer and the department may agree, prior to the expiration of the period in subdivision (a) of this subsection, to extend the period during which the notice of a deficiency determination can be mailed. The extension of the period for the mailing of a deficiency determination shall also extend the period during which a refund can be claimed.

(1) Any corporate officer or employee with the authority to decide whether the corporation will pay the taxes imposed upon a corporation by the motor fuel laws, to file any reports or returns required by the motor fuel laws, or to perform any other act required of a corporation under the motor fuel laws shall be personally liable for the payment of the taxes, interest, penalties, or other administrative penalties in the event of willful failure on his or her part to have the corporation perform such act. Such taxes shall be collected in the same manner as provided under the Uniform State Tax Lien Registration and Enforcement Act.

(2) Within sixty days after the day on which the notice and demand are made for the payment of such taxes, any corporate officer or employee seeking to challenge the Tax Commissioner's determination as to his or her personal liability for the corporation's unpaid taxes may petition for a redetermination. The petition may include a request for the redetermination of the personal liability of the corporate officer or employee, the redetermination of the amount of the corporation's unpaid taxes, or both. If a petition for redetermination is not filed within the sixty-day period, the determination becomes final at the expiration of the period.

(3) If the requirements prescribed in subsection (2) of this section are satisfied, the Tax Commissioner shall abate collection proceedings and shall grant the corporate officer or employee an oral hearing and give him or her ten days' notice of the time and place of such hearing. The Tax Commissioner may continue the hearing from time to time as necessary.

(4) Any notice required under this section shall be served personally or by mail in the manner provided in section 66-721.

(5) If the Tax Commissioner determines that further delay in the collection of such taxes from the corporate officer or employee will jeopardize future collection proceedings, nothing in this section shall prevent the immediate collection of such taxes.

(6) For purposes of this section:

(a) Corporation shall mean any corporation and any other entity that is taxed as a corporation under the Internal Revenue Code;

(b) Taxes shall mean all taxes and additions to taxes including interest and penalties imposed under the motor fuel laws which are administered by the Tax Commissioner; and

(c) Willful failure shall mean that failure which was the result of an intentional, conscious, and voluntary action.

All deficiencies determined by the department and any tax paid after the time provided shall accrue interest at the rate specified in section 45-104.02, as such rate may from time to time be adjusted, on such deficiency or late payment from the date such tax was due to the date of payment.

The department may examine the records of any person holding a license or permit, required to hold a license or permit, or purchasing motor fuel without the payment of tax at any time during regular business hours and make such other investigations as it deems necessary for the proper and efficient administration and enforcement of the motor fuel laws.

(1) The department may adjust all errors in payment, refund tax paid on motor fuel destroyed, refund tax overpaid on motor fuel, and refund an amount equal to the per-gallon tax imposed by this state on sales of motor fuel on which tax was paid in this state but which was sold in a state other than Nebraska.

(2)(a) Motor fuels shall be exempt from the taxes imposed by sections 66-489, 66-489.02, 66-4,105, 66-4,140, 66-4,145, and 66-4,146 when the fuels are used for agricultural, quarrying, industrial, or other nonhighway use.

(b) The department shall refund tax paid on motor fuels used for an exempt purpose. The purchaser of tax-paid motor fuels used for an exempt purpose shall file a claim for refund with the department on forms prescribed by the department and shall provide such documentation and maintain such records as the department reasonably requires to substantiate that the fuels were used for exempt purposes.

(c) The refund claim shall include: (i) The name of claimant; (ii) the make, horsepower, and other mechanical description of machinery in which the motor fuels were used; (iii) a statement as to the source or place of business where such motor fuels, used solely for agricultural, quarrying, industrial, or other nonhighway uses, were acquired; that no part of such motor fuels were used in propelling licensed motor vehicles; and that the motor fuels for which refund of the tax thereon is claimed were used solely for agricultural, quarrying, industrial, or other nonhighway uses; and (iv) any other information deemed necessary by the department.

(d) The department shall deduct (i) from each claim for refund of tax paid on purchases of motor vehicle fuels under this subsection two and one-quarter cents per gallon through December 31, 2004, and commencing January 1, 2010, and three and one-half cents per gallon commencing January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2009, of the tax paid and (ii) from each claim for refund of tax paid on purchases of diesel fuel under this subsection one cent per gallon of the tax paid.

(e) The department shall transmit monthly to the State Treasurer a report of the number of gallons of motor vehicle fuel for which refunds have been approved under this subsection. Through December 31, 2004, and commencing January 1, 2010, the State Treasurer shall thereupon transfer from the Highway Trust Fund to the Agricultural Alcohol Fuel Tax Fund one and one-quarter cents per gallon approved for refund, and commencing January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2009, the State Treasurer shall thereupon transfer from the Highway Trust Fund (a) to the Ethanol Production Incentive Cash Fund one and one-quarter cents per gallon approved for refund and (b) to the Agricultural Alcohol Fuel Tax Fund one and one-quarter cents per gallon approved for refund.

(3) No refund shall be allowed unless a claim is filed setting forth the circumstances by reason of which refund should be allowed. Such claim shall be filed with the department within three years from the date of the payment of the tax.

(4) In each calendar year, no claim for refund related to motor vehicle fuel, diesel fuel, aircraft fuel, or compressed fuel can be for an amount less than twenty-five dollars.

(5) The department shall administer and enforce this section. The department may call to its aid when necessary any member of the Nebraska State Patrol, any police officer, any county attorney, or the Attorney General. The employees of the department are empowered to stop and inspect motor vehicles, to inspect premises, and temporarily to impound motor vehicles or motor fuels when necessary to administer this section.

(6) The department may adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary for the prompt and effective enforcement of this section.

(7) Any claimant for refund of motor fuels tax under this section who is unable to produce the original copy of any invoice to substantiate the refund for the reason that the same has been lost, mutilated, or destroyed may make proof of his or her claim by affidavit and such other evidence as may be required by the department, and if such claim is verified by investigation, such claim may be allowed.

(8) The changes made to this section by Laws 2004, LB 983, apply to motor fuels purchased during any tax year ending or deemed to end on or after January 1, 2005, under the Internal Revenue Code.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to:

(a) Knowingly import, distribute, sell, produce, refine, compound, blend, or use any motor vehicle fuel, diesel fuel, or compressed fuel in the State of Nebraska without remitting the full amount of tax imposed by the provisions of the motor fuel laws;

(b) Refuse or knowingly and intentionally fail to make and file any return, report, or statement required by the motor fuel laws in the manner or within the time required;

(c) Knowingly and with intent to evade or to aid or abet any other person in the evasion of the tax imposed by the motor fuel laws (i) make any false or incomplete report, return, or statement, (ii) conceal any material fact in any record, report, return, or affidavit provided for in the motor fuel laws, (iii) improperly claim any exemption from tax imposed by the motor fuel laws, or (iv) create or submit any false documentation purporting to show that tax-free fuel has been purchased or sold tax paid or that tax-paid fuel has been used for a tax-exempt purpose;

(d) Knowingly conduct any activities requiring a license under the provisions of the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Act, the Compressed Fuel Tax Act, and Chapter 66, articles 4, 5, and 7, without a license or after a license has been surrendered, suspended, or canceled;

(e) Knowingly conduct any activities requiring a permit under the provisions of the motor fuel laws without such permit or after such permit has been surrendered, suspended, or canceled;

(f) Knowingly assign or attempt to assign a license or permit;

(g) Knowingly fail to keep and maintain books and records required by the motor fuel laws;

(h) Knowingly fail or refuse to pay a fuel tax when due;

(i) Knowingly make any false statement in connection with an application for the refund of any money or tax;

(j) Fail or refuse to produce for inspection any license or permit issued under the motor fuel laws; or

(k) Knowingly violate any of the motor fuel laws or any rule or regulation under the motor fuel laws.

(2) Any person who violates subdivision (1)(b), (f), (h), or (k) of this section shall be guilty of a Class IV felony. Failing to report or pay taxes due shall constitute a separate offense for each reporting period.

(3) Any person who violates subdivision (1)(a), (c), (d), (g), or (i) of this section shall be guilty of a Class IV felony if the amount of tax involved is less than five thousand dollars and a Class III felony if the amount of tax is five thousand dollars or more. Failing to report or pay taxes due shall constitute a separate offense for each reporting period.

(4) Any person who violates subdivision (1)(e) or (j) of this section shall be guilty of a separate Class IV misdemeanor for each day of operation.

An offense committed in violation of section 66-727 shall be deemed an act committed in part in the principal office of the department. The Attorney General shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the county attorney in the prosecution of such offenses which may be conducted in any county in which the offender resides or has a place of business or in which the crime was committed.

After reviewing an application received in proper form, the department may issue to the applicant a permit or license. The department may refuse to issue a permit or license to any person:

(1) Who previously had a permit or license issued under the motor fuel laws of any state which, prior to the time of filing the application, has been suspended or canceled for cause;

(2) Who is a subterfuge for the real party in interest whose license, prior to the time of filing the application, has been suspended or canceled for cause;

(3) Which has as a partner, limited liability company member, or shareholder, with a ten percent or larger ownership interest, any person who is unable to obtain a license or permit in his or her own name;

(4) Who is not in compliance with requirements of the State Fire Marshal regarding underground storage tanks;

(5) Who is not in compliance with the Department of Agriculture regarding weights and measures;

(6) Who has been convicted of a felony in the last ten years; or

(7) Upon other sufficient cause being shown.

Before such refusal, the department shall grant the applicant a hearing and shall grant him or her at least ten days' written notice of the time and place.

(1) The department shall develop, implement, and maintain a computer system for the automated recording and analysis of the motor vehicle fuel tax, the diesel fuel tax, and related information. The system shall be capable of directly accepting and recording data filed by magnetic media.

(2) The department shall share information pertaining to motor fuel use, tax collection, and related information with the Department of Agriculture, the State Fire Marshal, and the Nebraska State Patrol. The information shall be made available to these agencies and to any other state, federal, or local agency with a valid need for the information as determined by the Department of Revenue.

(3) The department may forward to any agency in this state, to the officials to whom are entrusted the enforcement of the motor fuel tax laws of any other state, the District of Columbia, the United States, its territories and possessions, and the provinces or the Dominion of Canada, or to any other person any information which the department may have relative to the receipt, storage, delivery, sale, use, or other disposition of motor fuel.

(4) The department may forward to any person statistical information, lists of licensees or permitholders, or totals for any licensee or permitholder.

With funds appropriated for such purposes, the department, the Attorney General, and the Nebraska State Patrol shall each dedicate staff personnel and associated costs for the training of personnel and the review, development, enforcement, and prosecution of the motor fuel laws and the penalties associated with the failure to completely comply with the motor fuel laws, rules, and regulations.

It is the intent of this Legislature that the activities of the department, the Attorney General, and the Nebraska State Patrol be coordinated with activities of each other and all other local, state, and federal agencies involved with the development and enforcement of related laws, rules, and regulations.

(1) All motor fuel producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, and importers licensed under section 3-149 or 66-484 and all retailers licensed under section 66-6,106 shall jointly furnish a cash bond to the state to secure the payment of all fuel taxes.

(2) The cash bond shall be held by the State Treasurer in a motor fuel trust fund, which fund is hereby created, for the benefit of producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers. No producer, supplier, distributor, wholesaler, importer, or retailer shall have any claim or rights against the fund as a separate person. Any money in the diesel fuel importers trust fund and the motor vehicle fuel importers trust fund on March 30, 1995, shall be transferred to the motor fuel trust fund on such date.

(3) All funds in the trust fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act and may be pooled with other funds for the purposes of section 72-1267.

(1) The contribution for the cash bond required in section 66-733 shall be collected by the department each tax period with the tax return for all such periods beginning on and after September 30, 1985. The amount due shall be deemed to be tax for the purpose of collection or refund.

(2) The amount collected each tax period from the motor fuel producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers shall be the portion of the commission allowed which equals one-fourth of one percent of the total tax due.

(3) The contributions from the motor fuel producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers shall continue to be collected until the amount in the trust fund, including interest earned, is equal to one percent of the total motor fuel tax collected during the preceding year. The contributions shall resume whenever the amount is less than one-half of one percent of the motor fuel tax collected during the preceding year.

(4) The department shall notify the producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers whenever it is necessary for the contributions to resume. The contributions shall begin with the first tax return that is due at least thirty days after notice is provided by the department.

(1) Money in the trust fund created pursuant to section 66-733 shall be used solely for the purpose of preventing a loss to the state for fuel taxes that are not paid.

(2) Whenever the department determines that fuel tax has been delinquent for ninety days, it shall certify the delinquent amount of tax and the interest due thereon to the State Treasurer. The certification shall include the specific fund into which the tax would have been deposited if received.

(3) Upon receipt of the certification, the State Treasurer shall transfer the amount to the fund identified.

(4) Such transfer shall not affect the liability of the producer, supplier, distributor, wholesaler, importer, or retailer to the state.

(1) A refund of the contributions made pursuant to section 66-734 shall be made only when there is a refund of the tax on which the contribution is calculated or when there was an error in the calculation.

(2) If the cash bond is abolished, the money in the trust fund shall be returned to the producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers who are then licensed by increasing the commission by the amount specified for the contributions. The reduction in collections because of the additional amount allowed to the producers, suppliers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers shall be replaced by a transfer from the cash bond to the appropriate highway fund.

There is hereby created the Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Cash Fund. Such fund shall consist of appropriations to the fund and money transferred to it pursuant to section 39-2215. The fund shall be used exclusively for the costs of the Department of Revenue in carrying out its duties under the Compressed Fuel Tax Act, the Petroleum Release Remedial Action Act, the State Aeronautics Act, and sections 66-482 to 66-4,149, 66-501 to 66-531, and 66-712 to 66-736 and other related costs for the Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska State Patrol, except that transfers may be made from the fund to the General Fund at the direction of the Legislature. Any money in the Motor Fuel Tax Enforcement and Collection Cash Fund available for investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds Investment Act.