Pushing A Tax Amnesty Program
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- November
- 5
As lawmakers seek to close this year’s $3.2 billion budget gap, Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, is proposing legislation that would toughen laws on tax scofflaws.
Klein estimates that the state could bring in about $400 million if it establishes a tax amnesty program, which would waive penalties if tax evaders pay up. As part of his budget-cutting plan, Gov. David Paterson has included the program but estimates it would bring in about $250 million this year and $100 million next year.
The new twist on Klein’s plan is that it would give state agencies the authority to deny a delinquent taxpayer the renewal of a professional license after being notified by the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
His office produced a list of some people who owe six-figure sums to the state but also hold state licenses, such as liquor and real estate licenses for their businesses.
“I think there’s a real case to be made that someone would think twice before running up a huge tax bill in the state of New York if they know that their professional license is in jeopardy,” Klein said.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 6:49 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
