Error Messages
When natural gas tax reports are processed, report errors are identified for every lease transaction reported. One lease transaction may contain only one error message or a series of different error messages. The Comptroller's office classified two types of errors identified as non-critical errors and critical errors. The critical errors affect the tax or credit amount due for each lease transaction in a report period. The non-critical errors do not affect the tax or credit amount due for each lease transaction in a report period. The next pages show a list of non-critical and critical errors identified.
Non-Critical Errors
Although non-critical errors do not affect the tax or credit amount due for each lease transaction, there is a potential these errors could become critical errors when subsequent amendments are processed.
If a report period has outstanding non-critical errors and no critical errors, refunds are issued and credit transfers from one period to another are processed. Credit interest will be paid on refunds issued and/or credit transfers processed only if a report period has non-critical errors.
However, non-critical errors are incorrect information provided to the Comptroller's office. This definitely impacts on the type of lease data provided to the general public, Texas Legislature and other state agencies. This is because all data from lease transactions is used to make important decisions for the state of Texas, including the estimation of Texas revenues for budgeting purposes and valuations for Texas property tax appraisals.
Critical Errors
Since critical errors do indeed affect the tax or credit amount due for each lease transaction and if a report period contains at least one critical error, a refund will not be issued and a credit transfer moving credits from one period to another will not be processed. The critical error must be corrected in order for a refund to be issued or credit transfer to be processed.
Error Letters
Letters from the Comptroller's office to taxpayers are mailed weekly after an original and/or amended report has processed informing the taxpayer errors were identified for a specific report period.
Letters from the Comptroller's office to taxpayers who file:
- electronically, inform the taxpayer to view their report errors on the web.
- on paper, include an error list identifying the report errors. With an assigned web identification number, taxpayers who report on paper also have the option to view their report errors on the web.
Whether the error message list is viewed on paper or on the Web, the format of the error message list is the same.
Error messages can occur either on the lease detail and/or the computation of the report totals.
Error messages can be viewed on Comptroller's Web site: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/nat_gas/report_errors.html
Error Messages on Reported Totals Are Critical Errors
The "reported totals" are the totals a taxpayer reported on their report and "calculated totals" are the totals computed by the Comptroller's office after the report has processed.
Based on each lease transaction listed on a report, error messages on "reported totals" are a result of a computation error on the tax reported by a taxpayer. Whenever the "reported totals" and the "calculated totals" do not match, an error message is generated indicating the report to be "out of balance. This is why errors on report totals were categorized as critical errors. Below are the most common error messages for report totals:
- Cannot have condensate totals out of balance,
- Reported and calculated totals do not match,
- Reported and calculated fee volumes did not match, and
- Computation error in total for Type 05 tax due.
Critical Error Messages on Lease Detail
- Commodity code cannot be blank
- Commodity code invalid for lease type
- Lease type is invalid-Critical error for report periods prior to November 2007 .
- County is missing
- Invalid county code. County must be 001-254
- Cannot report exemption type with condensate commodity code
- Lease number is missing
- Lease number not on file
- Lease number not active in county
- Lease number not active
- Drilling permit number not on file
- No well exemptions exist for this lease for API number
- Purchaser number not on file- Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- Purchaser number not active for period-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- . Purchaser number missing-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- . Purchaser number not set up for sub-type-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- Purchaser number not set up for tax-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- Producer number not on file-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- Producer number not active for period-Critical error if "Are You Liable For Tax?" field is "NO"
- Your volume cannot be negative
- Your volume cannot be zero with a reported value
- Value of your volume cannot be negative
- Liable for tax is invalid with a net taxable value
- Liable for tax is not a valid value
- Are you liable for tax? Must be yes with lease use
- Governmental volume cannot be negative
- Gov royalty volume ratio of your volume to gov royalty volume is unreasonable
- Gov royalty value ratio of your value to gov royalty value is unreasonable
- Gov royalty value cannot be negative
- Gov royalty value cannot equal to your value
- Marketing costs cannot be negative
- Marketing cost exceeds your value, net taxable value must be zero
- Net taxable value cannot be negative
- Net taxable value is out of balance
- Net taxable value is unreasonable
- Incorrect computation for net taxable value
- Net taxable value is unreasonable with reported exemption type
- Net taxable value is noncomputable
- Net taxable value cannot be zero with reported value
- Net taxable value complete 10% penalty not met
- Tax due on type 05 incorrect computation
- Tax due on type 05 cannot be negative
- Tax due is unreasonable for exempt type
- Incorrect exemption rate reported for exemption type
