Tax amnesty nets state millions
State tax officials were recently surprised by an unexpected windfall from a limited tax amnesty program. Instead of the $9 million officials were counting on, they received $16.2 million from corporate and individual taxpayers.
The program, the Tax Receivables Reduction Initiative, waived 90% of the penalties owed on taxes but required all of the tax and interest to be paid before Nov. 30, the last day of the program. The initiative was meant to garner some of the uncollected taxes that businesses and individuals were struggling to pay in the recession, according to Capitol News Service.
Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, told the news service that another initiative to collect overdue taxes could be part of the solution to close the state's $383 million revenue gap. "The record seems to show here that relieving people of the penalty will encourage taxpayers to come forward and settle what they owe the state," he said.
About 70,000 taxpayers earlier this year were delinquent on their state taxes, the news service reported.
Go to the article from Capitol News Service >>
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