On January 15, 2009, the State of Alabama announced that it will offer a tax amnesty program called Operation Clean Slate (“Program”) beginning February 1, 2009 and running through May 15, 2009.
The Program will be administered by the Department of Revenue (DOR) and will apply to virtually all taxes, including corporate and individual income, business privilege, excise, gasoline, motor fuels, severance, tobacco, consumers use, and for those taxpayers who have not previously registered with the DOR, withholding and state administered sales and use taxes.
Eligible taxpayers may include those that did not file a required return and those that understated or omitted tax liabilities or that claimed erroneous credits or deductions on a filed return or report.
A taxpayer is ineligible for the Program if it has an outstanding debt with the DOR; has been notified for audit or is currently under investigation; has previously entered into a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement prior to February 1, 2009; or has an existing sales, withholding, or motor fuels tax account.
Under the Program, the DOR will waive all penalties associated with the filing and will not seek criminal prosecution. Furthermore, it will in most cases limit the look-back period to three years. The amnesty will generally apply to the last three years of delinquent annual returns that are past due as of February 1, 2009, and, for monthly or quarterly filers, the last 36 months of delinquent returns that are past due as of February 1, 2009.
The DOR will accept applications for the Program that are postmarked no later than May 15, 2009.
- Topics
- Transaction Tax
- Alabama