
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990                   TAG: 9004100615
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

TAX AMNESTY SO FAR NETS $31 MILLION

The Virginia Department of Taxation is still processing applications, but says more than $31 million in unpaid taxes has been reported under the state's tax amnesty program.

"There's no doubt that the amnesty program has contributed to the public's awareness of their obligations to pay taxes owed to the commonwealth," Virginia Tax Commissioner W.H. Forst said Monday.

The state had projected $35.4 million in delinquent tax collections from the program, which ended March 31. The Department of Taxation plans to announce updated figures Thursday.

"We have certified letters here that haven't been opened that are postmarked March 30," said department spokeswoman Ann Meyers.

Amnesty promised delinquent taxpayers that they could make up their payments without penalty, although they had to pay interest, if their returns were postmarked by midnight March 31.

With a carrot-and-stick approach, the amnesty program also threatened harsher penalties for individuals and companies who failed to pay by that date. The original goal for the program was $26.8 million, but it was revised upward based on the amnesty history of North Carolina, which experienced a big upsurge of payments during the last weeks of the amnesty.

- Associated Press

by CNB