Time Running Out To Take Advantage Of Tax Amnesty
CHICAGO (WBBM) - If you owe the state of Illinois back taxes, you have about three more weeks to pay up, free of penalties or interest.
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A tax amnesty period that's only the second tax amnesty in the state's history runs through November 8th.
The amnesty covers taxes owed from July 1st, 2002 through the end of June 2009.
Susan Hofer with the state Department of Revenue says if you don't take advantage of the program, after November 8th, penalties and interest will double from the current 40 percent of your tax bill.
"After November 8th, the amnesty period ends and those interest and penalty fees double so you could end up paying almost as much in interest and penalties as the whole tax amount that you owe."
So far, Hofer says the amnesty program has drawn more questions than money. She says when Illinois offered its first amnesty in 2003, it collected half a billion dollars in taxpayer debts.
She won't even venture a guess how much the state will take in this time around.
More information at http://tax.illinois.gov/Amnesty/AmnestyQandA.htm
