Amnesty program nets $136.8M in unpaid taxes
David Ohmer via Flickr
The gold dome of the Massachusetts State House where tax collections have been strained but a recent amnesty program paid off.
The state recovered more than $136 million in unpaid taxes from more than 9,000 people through the Department of Revenue's two-month tax amnesty program this year, surpassing the program's goal of collecting $100 million in owed taxes.
In a report to the Legislature, DOR said it collected $136,826,624 in back taxes between April 1 and May 31, and that it waived $13,964,345 in penalties to induce tax scofflaws to come forward and pay what they owed.
Of the owed money collected, about $73 million came from people who did not file their tax returns with the state and another $54.6 million came from taxpayers who under-reported the amount they owed, DOR said.
"This program was designed to reach taxpayers who could not participate in other recent amnesties, specifically non-registrants, non-filers, and under-reporters," Revenue Commissioner Michael Heffernan wrote in the report.
Corporate taxes accounted for $45.4 million of the taxes collected through the amnesty program, the largest share, and the state reclaimed $40.6 million from financial institution and insurance, according to DOR. Unpaid sales taxes counted for $23.3 million of the amount collected and personal income taxes collected totaled $18.3 million, the department said.
Amnesty was not available to individuals or businesses that have been the subject of a tax-related criminal investigation or prosecution, who had filed a false or fraudulent return or statement, or who file a fraudulent amnesty return.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments