Tax Amnesty

Tax scofflaws in Maryland have two months to come forward and pay up without penalty through an amnesty program announced by Gov. Martin O'Malley on Monday. The amnesty runs through Oct. 30 and allows some Maryland residents and small businesses to pay back taxes free of penalty and at half the interest accrued. The program is being implemented under a law approved by the General Assembly this year and signed by O'Malley, a Democrat. About 177,000 individual and 18,000 business tax accounts are delinquent, adding up to as much as a half-billion dollars.

Despite what the Supreme Court and Mitt Romney say, corporations aren't people. (I'll believe they are when Georgia and Texas start executing them.) The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations should be treated no differently than people who have First Amendment rights to spend money on politics. That was the majority's view in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission -- a case that's opened the floodgates to big money in the upcoming election. Mr. Romney agrees corporations are people and doesn't believe their political spending should be limited.

Six of the state comptroller's branch offices will remain open until midnight tomorrow, the last day of the tax amnesty period. The amnesty program includes personal income taxes, employer withholding taxes, corporate income taxes, sales and use taxes, and admissions and amusement taxes. Sites of the offices and tax amnesty applications are available online, or by calling 410-260-7980 in Central Maryland or 800-MD- TAXES elsewhere.

Should corporations get a massive tax discount for bringing the $1.4 trillion they've stashed in overseas tax havens back to America? An army of corporate lobbyists certainly think so. They are asking Congress for a tax holiday allowing corporations to pay just a 5 percent to 8 percent tax rate on profits they've kept offshore instead of the normal 35 percent. That's a lucrative reward for companies that have shirked their tax responsibility. Sadly, it's happened before. Congress last gave corporate America a "repatriation holiday" in 2004.

Delinquent taxpayers coughed up $39.2 million in previously unpaid taxes during Maryland's two-month amnesty period, the state comptroller said yesterday - more than once believed, but still far less than originally anticipated. The General Assembly had hoped to collect $70 million when it approved the amnesty program earlier this year, and it had even earmarked the money for specific programs. Because the funds came up short, $18 million intended for public education grants and volunteer fire companies won't be paid.

An expected spike in tax amnesty collections in the weeks before the Oct. 31 deadline did not materialize, and the state has received only $12.96 million in penalty-free back taxes so far - well below the $70 million figure that legislative analysts had predicted. The results are the latest budgetary woe for Maryland after legislative policy analysts cautioned this week that the state could face a $1.7 billion shortfall by the end of next year. The state comptroller's office won't have final collection figures for several more days, but state officials said that the events of Sept.

In 1987, Maryland launched its "one and only" tax amnesty holiday for those who hadn't paid their state taxes. Shockingly, in 2001 it happened again, and yesterday Gov. Martin O'Malley and others were in Dundalk touting Maryland's third such effort in 22 years. What do all three events have in common? Here's a clue: It's all in the timing. At the time of each, Maryland was in the throes of an economic downturn, and elected officials desperately needed the cash to help balance a state budget awash in red ink. This year's effort may prove to be the most desperate yet. Unlike in 2001, the General Assembly approved the amnesty last spring without giving the state comptroller's office any money to manage, advertise or market it. And that's one reason why even the legislature's own analysts are assuming it will raise about $10 million compared with nearly four times that amount eight years ago. Tax amnesty is not necessarily a bad policy, at least not in moderation.

Comptroller William Donald Schaefer kicked off the state's first tax amnesty program in 14 years, laying out a carrot-and-stick approach yesterday that will give tax scofflaws 60 days to pay up or face harsher consequences after Oct. 31. "After this amnesty program, we're going to go after you," Schaefer said at a news conference in Annapolis. "We are really going to go after you until you pay." The General Assembly passed legislation in April authorizing the tax amnesty program. Legislative analysts estimated that $70 million could be collected.

With 19 days to go, the state has received less than 10 percent of what it expects in its drive to collect back taxes - without penalties or interest - from individuals and businesses, the state comptroller's office said yesterday. The $4.7 million collected falls far short of the $50 million that the General Assembly expected to be able to disburse. Legislative analysts had estimated $70 million could be collected. But Stephen M. Cordi, the deputy comptroller, said that this year's tax amnesty program is outpacing the state's last program in 1987, and that collections will greatly increase in the days before the Oct. 31 deadline.

Those two ominous looking men appearing on billboards around the state are part of the ad campaign launching the state's 61-day tax amnesty, which begins Sept. 1. The teaser billboards and signs on the backs of buses began late last week, and the full television, print and radio campaign gets under way Sept. 3. Except for the word "amnesty," the teaser ads say nothing about the state program to allow people to pay back taxes and interest, without penalties. The state expects the amnesty to raise $70 million, most of it earmarked for health and education.

In 1987, Maryland launched its "one and only" tax amnesty holiday for those who hadn't paid their state taxes. Shockingly, in 2001 it happened again, and yesterday Gov. Martin O'Malley and others were in Dundalk touting Maryland's third such effort in 22 years. What do all three events have in common? Here's a clue: It's all in the timing. At the time of each, Maryland was in the throes of an economic downturn, and elected officials desperately needed the cash to help balance a state budget awash in red ink. This year's effort may prove to be the most desperate yet. Unlike in 2001, the General Assembly approved the amnesty last spring without giving the state comptroller's office any money to manage, advertise or market it. And that's one reason why even the legislature's own analysts are assuming it will raise about $10 million compared with nearly four times that amount eight years ago. Tax amnesty is not necessarily a bad policy, at least not in moderation.

Tax scofflaws in Maryland have two months to come forward and pay up without penalty through an amnesty program announced by Gov. Martin O'Malley on Monday. The amnesty runs through Oct. 30 and allows some Maryland residents and small businesses to pay back taxes free of penalty and at half the interest accrued. The program is being implemented under a law approved by the General Assembly this year and signed by O'Malley, a Democrat. About 177,000 individual and 18,000 business tax accounts are delinquent, adding up to as much as a half-billion dollars.

Delinquent taxpayers coughed up $39.2 million in previously unpaid taxes during Maryland's two-month amnesty period, the state comptroller said yesterday - more than once believed, but still far less than originally anticipated. The General Assembly had hoped to collect $70 million when it approved the amnesty program earlier this year, and it had even earmarked the money for specific programs. Because the funds came up short, $18 million intended for public education grants and volunteer fire companies won't be paid.

An expected spike in tax amnesty collections in the weeks before the Oct. 31 deadline did not materialize, and the state has received only $12.96 million in penalty-free back taxes so far - well below the $70 million figure that legislative analysts had predicted. The results are the latest budgetary woe for Maryland after legislative policy analysts cautioned this week that the state could face a $1.7 billion shortfall by the end of next year. The state comptroller's office won't have final collection figures for several more days, but state officials said that the events of Sept.

Six of the state comptroller's branch offices will remain open until midnight tomorrow, the last day of the tax amnesty period. The amnesty program includes personal income taxes, employer withholding taxes, corporate income taxes, sales and use taxes, and admissions and amusement taxes. Sites of the offices and tax amnesty applications are available online, or by calling 410-260-7980 in Central Maryland or 800-MD- TAXES elsewhere.

With 19 days to go, the state has received less than 10 percent of what it expects in its drive to collect back taxes - without penalties or interest - from individuals and businesses, the state comptroller's office said yesterday. The $4.7 million collected falls far short of the $50 million that the General Assembly expected to be able to disburse. Legislative analysts had estimated $70 million could be collected. But Stephen M. Cordi, the deputy comptroller, said that this year's tax amnesty program is outpacing the state's last program in 1987, and that collections will greatly increase in the days before the Oct. 31 deadline.

Comptroller William Donald Schaefer kicked off the state's first tax amnesty program in 14 years, laying out a carrot-and-stick approach yesterday that will give tax scofflaws 60 days to pay up or face harsher consequences after Oct. 31. "After this amnesty program, we're going to go after you," Schaefer said at a news conference in Annapolis. "We are really going to go after you until you pay." The General Assembly passed legislation in April authorizing the tax amnesty program. Legislative analysts estimated that $70 million could be collected.