Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 42 > Chapter 1 - Administration

• Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Articles of incorporation: means the original or restated articles of incorporation or articles of merger and all amendments to the articles of incorporation or merger and includes amended and restated articles of incorporation and articles of amendment and merger. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Audit: means a review or examination of a taxpayer's accounts, financial information, books and records and any other document to ensure information is reported correctly on a return in accordance with this chapter and to verify the reported amount of tax is correct. See Arizona Laws 42-1101.01
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Corruptly: means a wrongful design to acquire or cause some pecuniary or other advantage to the person guilty of the act or omission referred to, or to some other person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Court: means the superior court of this state. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Deliver: includes sending by mail, private courier, fax or electronic transmission. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Department: means the department of revenue. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Director: means the director of the department. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• disqualified shareholder: means a shareholder described in subsection 10-2223, subsection A, paragraph 1 or 2 or the legal representative of that shareholder. See Arizona Laws 10-2228
• Due date: means the next business day if a due date of any report, claim, return, statement, payment, deposit, petition, notice or other document or filing falls on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday. See Arizona Laws 42-11001
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Electronic portal: means a secure location on a website established by the department that requires the receiver to enter a password to access. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Electronic return preparer: means a person who for compensation prepares an electronic return, statement or other document or prepares a substantial portion of an electronic return, statement or other document or transforms a paper version of a completed return, statement or other document to an electronic version of the same return, statement or other document for filing with the department. See Arizona Laws 42-1101.01
• Electronic return transmitter: means a person who receives the electronic return, statement or other document from a taxpayer or electronic return preparer for ultimate transmittal to the department. See Arizona Laws 42-1101.01
• Email: means :

  (a) An electronic transmission of a message to an email address. See Arizona Laws 42-1001

• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grantor: includes every person from or by whom an estate or interest in real property passes, in or by a deed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Internal revenue code: means the United States internal revenue code of 1986, as amended and in effect as of January 1, 2023, including those provisions that became effective during 2022 with the specific adoption of their retroactive effective dates but excluding all changes to the code enacted after January 1, 2023. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Known place of business: means the known place of business required to be maintained pursuant to section 10-501. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• levy: includes the power of distraint and seizure by any means. See Arizona Laws 42-1201
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• licensed: means any license, authorization, certificate, registration, certificate of registration, membership or other evidence of the satisfaction of the requirements of this state for the practice of a professional service. See Arizona Laws 10-2201
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Minor: means a person under eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Month: means a calendar month unless otherwise expressed. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• negligently: import a want of such attention to the nature or probable consequence of the act or omission as a prudent man ordinarily bestows in acting in his own concerns. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Oath: includes an affirmation or declaration. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: includes an individual and entity. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Person: means a natural person, individual, proprietor, proprietorship, company, corporation, organization, association, joint venture, partner, partnership, trust, estate or limited liability company, the federal or state government, a political subdivision of a state or any other legal entity or combination of entities that owns, controls or has possession of real or personal property. See Arizona Laws 42-11001
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Personal property: includes property of every kind, both tangible and intangible, that is not included as real estate. See Arizona Laws 42-11001
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• President: means that officer designated as the president in the articles of incorporation or bylaws or, if not so designated, that officer authorized in the articles of incorporation, bylaws or otherwise to perform the functions of the chief executive officer, irrespective of the name by which designated. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Principal office: means the office, in or out of this state, so designated in the annual report where the principal executive offices of a domestic or foreign corporation are located or in any other document executed by the corporation by an officer and delivered to the commission for filing. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Proceeding: includes a civil suit and a criminal, administrative and investigatory action. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Professional service: means a service that may be lawfully rendered only by a person licensed or otherwise authorized by a licensing authority in this state to render the service. See Arizona Laws 10-2201
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• send electronically: means to send by either email or the use of an electronic portal. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or the beneficial owner of shares to the extent of the rights granted by a nominee certificate on file with a corporation. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• Shares: means the units into which the proprietary interests in a corporation are divided. See Arizona Laws 10-140
• State: means the District of Columbia and any state, territory or possession of the United States. See Arizona Laws 42-1051
• state board: means either the state board of tax appeals or the state board of equalization, as applicable. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Tax: means :

  (a) Assessments lawfully made, whether based on a return or other disclosure of the taxpayer, upon the information and belief of the taxing authority, or otherwise. See Arizona Laws 42-1051

• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Valuation: means the full cash value or limited property value that is determined for real or personal property, as applicable. See Arizona Laws 42-11001
• Wilfully: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Writing: includes printing. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• written: includes blockchain technology as defined in section 44-7061. See Arizona Laws 10-140