Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

In order to encourage the voluntary disclosure and payment of various taxes owed to Oklahoma, recently enacted legislation authorizes and directs the state's Tax Commission to establish a voluntary compliance initiative for specified "eligible taxes." Accordingly, an eligible taxpayer would be entitled to a waiver of any penalty, interest, or other collection fees due on the eligible taxes if the taxpayer voluntarily files the requisite delinquent tax returns and pays the taxes due during the course of the initiative. The time period for the initiative is limited to the period beginning on September 15, 2008, and ending on November 14, 2008. During that brief time, the taxpayer must either make a voluntary payment of the full tax liability due or the taxpayer must enter into a written payment program agreement with the Tax Commission for the full payment of the unpaid tax over a specified time and in a specified manner.
Upon full payment of the eligible taxes due pursuant to the initiative, the Tax Commission will then abate and not seek to collect any interest, penalties, collection fees, or other costs that would otherwise be applicable, and will also release any tax liens that have been imposed.
For these purposes, the term "eligible taxes" includes the following tax types that were due and payable for any tax period or periods ending before January 1, 2008:
-- mixed beverage taxes;
-- gasoline and diesel taxes;
-- gross production and petroleum excise taxes;
-- franchise taxes;
-- sales taxes;
-- use taxes;
-- corporate and personal income taxes;
-- personal income tax withholding; and
-- banking and credit union privilege taxes.
If any eligible tax or part thereof is not paid before the end of the initiative, or not in conformity with a written payment program agreement entered into during the initiative for the eventual payment of the unpaid eligible tax, then a penalty equal to the amount of the delinquent penalty imposed by the applicable nonpayment of tax statute must be added, collected, and paid. However, the Tax Commission may not collect this assessed penalty if the individual or entity from which the tax liability is due was not eligible to participate in the initiative, the taxpayer has timely filed a protest of an assessment, or the matter is being contested before a court of competent jurisdiction.
The enacted legislation further requires the Tax Commission to promulgate the requisite rules detailing the terms and other conditions of this initiative.
S.B. 2034 also contains provisions affecting income taxes that are reported separately (TAXDAY, 2008/06/09, S.17).
S.B. 2034, Laws 2008, effective June 3, 2008, applicable as noted.