N.J. tax amnesty brings revenue windfall - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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New Jersey expected to generatew $100 million when the 45-day program was but at its close last week had collectedf morethan $600 million in back taxes owed. Final revenue coulsd increase byanother $50 million to $100 million once the remainingf 17,500 envelopes are opened and processed, the Governor’s Officew said. New Jersey’s program, which ran from May 4 to June 15, permittef those owing back taxesfrom Jan. 1, 2002 and to Feb. 1, to settle up without penalty and for half theinterest owed. Of the collectionx processed to date, 56 percent were for the corporatiomnbusiness tax, 23 percent for sales and use taxesw and 14 percent for grossd income tax.
A vote on a final budget for New Jersey isexpecterd Thursday. Gov. Jon S. Corzine woulde like to see the additional revenue be put towardc propertytax relief, which was slated to be eliminatedr for all but seniors and the disablefd to address an up to $9 billion deficit in fiscakl year 2010. In state Rep. John C. R-Lancaster, is pitching legislatiom for a one-time tax amnesty program as a budgey fix forhis state. The bill would permit a 90-day tax amnesty periodf during 2009-10 fiscal year. The bill is in the House Finance Committee. “New Jersey has confirmed that this is a perfecr time for a tax amnesty program to succeed in Pennsylvania,” said “We are facing a $3.
2 billion budgett deficit and New Jersey’s successfupl program should vividly illustrate that such a progranm can collect hundreds of millions in revenue, or more, alreadyu owed to the Pennsylvania’s last tax amnestty program, which occured more than a decade ago, brought in $93 Bear said. Revenue from a tax amnestyg program could be used to addressthe state’sa budget deficit, instead of Gov. Ed Rendell’es proposal to raise the state incomee taxfrom 3.07 percent to 3.57 percent, Bear said. The governor’sa proposed 16 percent increase in the personalp income tax rate would generateabout $1.
5 billion a year in new revenude and amount to about $250 more per year for a familyg earning $50,000. “Now — duringb this dire budget crisis — is the time for a new tax amnestuy program to be put in Bear said.