Aren't the opponents admitting they're tax cheats?
Business Files Its Objections to State's Hunt for Back Taxes
By Evan Halper and Marc Lifsher
Times Staff Writers
February 6, 2005
SACRAMENTO Business groups are pushing to scale back a new state law that imposes stiff penalties on taxpayers who do not pay all they owe.
The law parallels an aggressive move by tax officials to collect back taxes from tens of thousands of delinquent California residents and businesses. Under its terms, tougher penalties than any the state has ever imposed will apply to tax dodgers who do not come clean during a two-month amnesty that ends March 31.
Supporters of the program say scaling it back would cost the state too much. The face-off highlights a deep split in Sacramento over how aggressively the state should go after suspected tax cheats.
Corporations and anti-tax groups are promoting emergency legislation to narrow the scope of the law and soften if not eliminate some of the fines. The administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in discussions with the business groups about backing the legislation or asking tax officials to make some businesses exempt from penalties.
