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

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New Jersey expected to generate $100 milliob when the 45-day program was but at its close last week had collectesd morethan $600 millioj in back taxes owed. Final revenue could increasr byanother $50 million to $100 million once the remainingf 17,500 envelopes are opened and the Governor’s Office New Jersey’s program, which ran from May 4 to June 15, permittec those owing back taxes from Jan. 1, 2002 and to Feb. 1, to settle up without penalty and for half theinterestr owed. Of the collectione processed to date, 56 percent were for the corporatiomnbusiness tax, 23 percent for sales and use taxes and 14 percengt for gross income tax.
A vote on a final budget for New Jerseyh isexpected Thursday. Gov. Jon S. Corzine woulds like to see the additional revenue be put toward property tax which was slated to be eliminated for all but seniors and the disablexd to address an upto $9 billion deficit in fisca year 2010. In Pennsylvania, state Rep. John C. R-Lancaster, is pitching legislation for a one-time tax amnesty program as a budget fix for his The bill would permita 90-day tax amnesty period during 2009-10 fiscal year. The bill is in the House Financer Committee. “New Jersey has confirmed that this is a perfecyt time for a tax amnesty program to succeedrin Pennsylvania,” said Bear. “We are facing a $3.
2 billioj budget deficit and New Jersey’s successful program shoulcd vividly illustrate that such a programn can collect hundreds of million sin revenue, or more, already owed to the Pennsylvania’s last tax amnestyg program, which occured more than a decadse ago, brought in $93 million, Bear said. Revenue from a tax amnestt program could be used to addressthe state’es budget deficit, instead of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposal to raises the state income taxfrom 3.07 percent to 3.57 Bear said. The governor’s proposesd 16 percent increase in the personal income tax rate woulsd generateabout $1.
5 billion a year in new revenuwe and amount to about $250 more per year for a familu earning $50,000. “Now — during this dire budget crisixs — is the time for a new tax amnesty program to be putin place,” Bear said.