400-A:34 Exemption; Abatement. –
I. The provisions of RSA 400-A:31 and 32 shall not apply to mutual insurance companies that operate on an assessment plan and require as a condition for granting insurance the signing of a premium deposit note by the insured, which note is given for the purpose of establishing a limit of liability to assessment, while their total receipts from policyholders is less than $10,000 per year.
II. Any insurer authorized to do business in this state, having complied with the provisions of this chapter, which shall deem itself aggrieved by reason of any tax imposed upon it by the insurance commissioner, may apply within one year after the due date of any tax imposed upon it, and not afterwards, by petition to the Merrimack county superior court for an abatement of so much thereof as it may claim to have been unlawfully imposed upon it.
III. Such petition shall be entitled against the insurance commissioner, and all summonses therein shall be served upon the insurance commissioner. In any such action, the superior court, after hearing, shall make such order as justice may require and may order the insurance commissioner to credit the petitioner in any tax assessment thereafter made against the petitioner with any amount found to have been illegally assessed against and paid by the petitioner, with interest thereon at such rate as the court may deem just.
IV. Notwithstanding paragraphs II and III, if an insurer or other person engaged in the business of insurance in this state has paid taxes, fees or other charges pursuant to title XXXVII in excess of the amount legally chargeable against such insurer or other person, application may be made for a refund of the overpayment. If the commissioner is satisfied that, because of some mistake of fact, error in calculation, or erroneous interpretation of a law of this state or any other state, an overpayment was made by the insurer or other person, the commissioner shall apply the amount of the overpayment toward the payment of taxes, fees or other charges already due or which may become due or make a cash refund to the insurer or other person. Application for a refund shall be made within 3 years after the date of the excess payment of taxes, fees or other charges.