Lat taxpayers will be able to pay their taxes and avoid penalties between Sept. 15 and Nov. 14 thanks to the Voluntary Compliance Initiative passed by Oklahoma lawmakers.
By Ron Jenkins
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma City attorney has filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court against a new law he said rewards deadbeat taxpayers.
Jerry R. Fent asked the state high court on Thursday to take the case and issue an order prohibiting implementation of the law, passed in the final days of the 2008 Legislature.
Fent said the law unconstitutionally grants civil amnesty to some Oklahoma taxpayers.
Under the law, people and companies with tax liabilities can have interest and penalties waived between Sept. 15 and Nov. 14 of this year.
Fent said the state Constitution prohibits the waving of state tax liabilities.
He said the measure is “a slap in the face to all law-abiding Oklahomans who pay their taxes as required by law.”
Fent has filed several lawsuits challenging legislative proposals and was successful in winning court orders restricting the Legislature’s role in approval of bond programs.
In 2007, the Supreme Court, ruling in a Fent lawsuit, held that legislative leaders could not take part in executive decisions about projects to be funded out of an economic development program.
Fent’s latest lawsuit attacks a bill that was part of an agreement on a $7.1 billion state budget. It allows for tax amnesty in nine tax categories, including income and sales taxes.
The proposal originated in the governor’s office and passed in the final days of this year’s legislative session.
It is estimated the law will bring in a net increase of $34.7 million in tax revenue, of which $31.2 million was used to fund state government for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Paul Sund, spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry, had no comment on the merits of Fent’s suit.
He said the law was passed “strictly to try to produce revenue in a tight budget year.”
Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the Tax Commission, said the state had similar tax compliance programs in 1984 and 2002. She said more than 40 states have enacted such programs.
Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said the law gives taxpayers with liabilities prior to 2007 “an opportunity to clean the slate and lift that burden off their conscience and their shoulders.”
According to the Office of State Finance, it is estimated that about $15 million of the extra revenue for the state will be raised from corporate taxpayers.
More than $9 million is expected to be raised as individuals come forward to pay their state income taxes and about $6 million will come from businesses owing sales taxes.
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