Rendell Says No to Proposed Tax Amnesty Program

by KYW’s Tony Romeo

Despite the success in New Jersey, the Rendell administration is pouring cold water on the idea of a tax amnesty program in Pennsylvania.

A tax amnesty proposal is part of the House Republican plan to balance the Pennsylvania budget. The idea was immediately bashed by the Rendell administration as a “gimmick that is unlikely to work” despite the fact that a recent tax amnesty program in New Jersey brought in much more revenue than anticipated. And the sponsor of the proposal, Lancaster County House Republican John Bear, says he would model a Pennsylvania program after New Jersey’s:

“Half the interest waived, waive the penalties, and if you don’t participate in this amnesty program, you got a five percent penalty on top of that.”

But Governor Rendell’s revenue secretary claims the administration has dramatically improved delinquent tax collections while delinquent tax collections suffered in the years after Pennsylvania tried an amnesty program in the mid-90s; causing the administration of former Governor Ridge to conclude future amnesty programs would be counter-productive.