Budget Amendment ID: FY2015-S4-17

OTH 17

Tax Amnesty

Messrs. Tarr, Ross and Humason moved that the proposed new text be amended moved that the bill be amended by inserting, after section__, the following new sections:-

“SECTION AA. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of revenue shall establish a tax amnesty program during which all penalties that could be assessed by the commissioner shall be waived without the need for any showing by the taxpayer of reasonable cause or the absence of willful neglect for the failure of the taxpayer to: (i) timely file any proper return for any tax type and for any tax period; (ii) file proper returns which report the full amount of the taxpayer's liability for any tax type and for any tax period; (iii) timely pay any tax liability; or (iv) pay the proper amount of any required estimated payment toward a tax liability. The waiver of a taxpayer’s liability under this section shall apply if the taxpayer files returns, makes payments as required by the commissioner or otherwise comes into compliance with the tax laws of the commonwealth as required by the commissioner pursuant to the tax amnesty program. The scope of the program, including the particular tax types and periods covered, including any limited look-back period for unfiled returns, shall be determined by the commissioner; provided, however, the commissioner shall include, but not be limited to, the following tax types within the scope: sales and use tax, sales tax on telecommunications services, meals tax, meals tax local option, materialman sales tax, withholding income, performer withholding, pass-through entity withholding, lottery annuity withholding, room occupancy excise, room occupancy excise local option, convention center financing fees on room occupancy in Boston, Cambridge, Chicopee, Springfield, West Springfield, and Worcester, convention center financing surcharge for sightseeing tours, convention center financing surcharge on vehicle rentals in Boston, convention center financing surcharge on parking in Boston, Springfield, and Worcester, deeds excise, cigarette excise, cigars and smoking tobacco excise, club alcohol beverage excise, gasoline excise, special fuels excise, special fuels excise local option, and boat and recreational vehicles sales tax.

(b) The amnesty program shall be established for 2 consecutive months within fiscal year 2015 to be determined by the commissioner, such period to expire not later than June 30, 2015, and all required payments shall be made on or before June 30, 2015, in order for the amnesty to apply. If a taxpayer fails to pay the full liability before June 30, 2015, the commissioner shall retain any payments made and shall apply those payments against the outstanding liability, and the provisions of the tax amnesty program shall not apply.

(c) The commissioner's authority to waive penalties during the amnesty period shall not apply to any taxpayer who, before the start date of the amnesty program selected by the commissioner, was the subject of a tax-related criminal investigation or prosecution. The amnesty program shall not authorize the waiver of interest or any amount treated as interest. The commissioner may offer tax amnesty to those taxpayers who have either an unpaid self-assessed liability or who have been assessed a tax liability, whether before or after the filing of a return, which assessed liability remains unpaid.

(d) To the extent that a taxpayer within the scope of the amnesty program as determined by the commissioner and wishing to participate in the amnesty program has postponed the payment of an assessment of tax, interest and penalty under the authority of subsection (e) of section 32 of chapter 62C of the General Laws, the taxpayer shall waive in writing all rights under said subsection (e) to further delay the payment of the tax and interest portions of the assessment. The tax and interest portions of the assessment shall be payable in full from the date of the commissioner's notice of assessment. Upon payment by the taxpayer of the tax and interest of the outstanding assessment, the commissioner shall waive all penalties associated with that assessment. Thereafter, the taxpayer and the commissioner shall proceed with all administrative appeal rights that the taxpayer wishes to pursue with respect to the assessment.

(e) Amnesty shall not apply to those penalties which the commissioner would not have the sole authority to waive including, but not limited to, fuel taxes administered under the International Fuel Tax Agreement or under the local option portions of taxes or excises collected for the benefit of cities, towns or state governmental authorities.

(f) The commissioner shall maintain records of the amnesty provided under this section including, but not limited to: (i) the number of taxpayers provided with amnesty; (ii) the types of tax liability for which amnesty was provided and, for each type of liability, the amount of tax liability collected and the amount of penalties foregone by virtue of the amnesty program; and (iii) the total outstanding tax liability for amnesty-eligible taxpayers at the conclusion of the tax amnesty program after the collection of all funds under this section. The commissioner shall file a report detailing such information with the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, the joint committee on revenue, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the minority leader of the house and the minority leader of the senate not later than September 1, 2015; provided, however, that such report shall not contain information sufficient to identify an individual taxpayer or the amnesty that an individual taxpayer was provided under this section.

(g) Any taxpayer who utilizes the provisions of this tax amnesty program shall be precluded from utilizing any future tax amnesty programs for the next consecutive ten years, beginning in calendar year 2015.

SECTION BB. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Commonwealth Opioid Overdose Prevention and Education Trust Fund to be used, without appropriation, by the executive office of health and human services, in consultation with the department of public health and the department of mental health, for the purposes of opioid overdose prevention and education including but not limited to the following: providing communities with drug take-back boxes; for bulk purchases of intra-nasal naloxone from the federal government to provide to communities at discounted rates; and increased access to naloxone for all emergency responders. Funds may be expended for the opioid overdose prevention and reversal project, pursuant to chapter 94C of the general laws. One-half of the revenues received by the commonwealth pursuant to section AA of this act shall be deposited into the trust fund; provided, the amount deposited is no more than $5,000,000. All monies deposited into the fund shall be expended exclusively for the purposes set forth in this section. No expenditure from said fund shall cause said fund to be in deficiency at the close of a fiscal year.

SECTION CC. Any remaining amount of revenues received by the commonwealth, pursuant to section AA of this act, after amounts made available in section BB of this act, shall be deposited into the General Fund.”