Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 25, 1993 TAG: 9307250117
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
Scores of tax evaders are responding to the IRS' promise to assist them in getting back into the system after several years of not paying taxes.
Pat, a self-employed contractor from Fairfax County, failed to file returns or pay taxes for nearly 10 years. He dreaded the day he would be discovered.
"There wasn't a single day that I didn't think about it," said Pat, who declined to give his last name. "At tax time, I'd dream about it at night. Each year it got a little worse."
On Friday and Saturday, IRS officials held tax clinics at the Annandale and Alexandria campuses of Northern Virginia Community College. Tax delinquents received free help without the threat of prosecution.
In recent years, the IRS has found that many delinquent taxpayers want to re-enter the system and that for many, the carrot works better than the stick.
The agency does not prosecute those who turn themselves in, officials said, and limited enforcement resources make it worthwhile to encourage nonfilers to come in from the cold.
"We're trying to recognize that there are different categories of nonfilers," said Jack G. Petrie, director the IRS's Virginia District. "With those who want to file, we're trying to do things in a little gentler way."
Friday's session in Annandale at times resembled a meeting of Nonfilers Anonymous, as some people spoke openly of their mounting fears and tax problems, but generally declined to share their last names.
"This will be a big burden off me, very big," said David, 33, a construction worker from Annandale who said he had not filed any tax returns since 1986. "I like being able to get up and not worry, but this is something that has always hung over me."
by CNB