Recent State Tax Amnesty Periods

Tax Amnesty Programs Listed by State – November 22, 1982 — Present

STATE AMNESTY PERIOD
LEGISLATIVE AUTHORIZATION
 MAJOR TAXES COVERED
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE INCLUDED
Collections ($ Millions) (a)
 INSTALLMENT ARRANGEMENTS PERMITTED (b)
ALABAMA 1/20/84 – 4/1/84 No (c) All No 3.2 No
ARIZONA 11/22/82 – 1/20/83 No (c) All No 6.0 Yes
1/1/02 – 2/28/02 Yes Ind. Income No
9/1/03 – 10/31/03 Yes All (t) 45.5 Yes
ARKANSAS 9/1/87 – 11/30/87 Yes All No 1.7 Yes
CALIFORNIA 12/10/84 – 3/15/85 Yes Ind. Income Yes 154.0 Yes
Yes Sales No 43.0 Yes
COLORADO 9/16/85 – 11/15/85 Yes All No 6.4 Yes
 6/1/03 6/30/03  All 18.4 Yes
CONNECTICUT 9/1/90 – 11/30/90 Yes All Yes 54.0 Yes
9/1/95 – 11/30/95 Yes All Yes 46.2 Yes
9/1/02 – 12/2/02 All 109.0
FLORIDA 1/1/87 – 6/30/87 Yes Intangibles No 13.0 No
1/1/88 – 6/30/88 Yes (d) All No 8.4 (d) No
7/1/03 – 10/31/03 Yes All
GEORGIA 10/1/92 – 12/5/92 Yes All Yes 51.3 No
IDAHO 5/20/83 – 8/30/83 No (c) Ind. Income No 0.3 No
ILLINOIS 10/1/84 – 11/30/84 Yes All(u) Yes 160.5 No
 10/1/03 – 11/17/03 Yes  All 10.4
IOWA 9/2/86 – 10/31/86 Yes All Yes 35.1
KANSAS 7/1/84 – 9/30/84 Yes All No 0.6 No
10/1/03 – 11/30/03 Yes All
KENTUCKY 9/15/88 – 9/30/88 Yes (c) All No 100.0 No
8/1/02 – 9/30/02 Yes (c) All No 100.0 No
LOUISIANA 10/1/85 – 12/31/85 Yes All No 1.2 Yes (f)
10/1/87 – 12/15/87 Yes All No 0.3 Yes (f)
10/1/98 – 12-31-98 Yes All No (q) 1.3 No
9/1/01 – 10/30/01 Yes All Yes 173.1 No
MAINE 11/1/90 – 12/31/90 Yes All Yes 29.0 Yes
9/1/03 11/30/03 Yes All
MARYLAND 9/1/87 – 11/2/87 Yes All Yes 34.6 (g) No
9/1/01 – 10/31/01 Yes All Yes 39.2 No
MASSACHUSETTS 10/17/83 – 1/17/84 Yes All Yes 86.5 Yes (h)
10/1/02 – 11/30/02 Yes All Yes 91.6 Yes
1/1/03 2/28/03 Yes All Yes
MICHIGAN 5/12/86 – 6/30/86 Yes All Yes 109.8 No
5/15/02 – 6/30/02 Yes All Yes
MINNESOTA 8/1/84 – 10/31/84 Yes All Yes 12.1 No
MISSISSIPPI 9/1/86 – 11/30/86 Yes All No 1.0 No
MISSOURI 9/1/83 – 10/31/83 No (c) All No 0.9 No
8/1/02 – 10/31/02 Yes All Yes 76.4
8/1/03 – 10/31/03 Yes All Yes 20
NEVADA 2/1/02 – 6/30/02 All 7.3
NEW HAMPSHIRE 12/1/97 – 2/17/98 Yes All Yes 13.5 No
12/1/01 2/15/02 Yes All Yes 13.5
NEW MEXICO 8/16/99 – 11/12/99 Yes All Yes 45 Yes
NEW JERSEY 9/10/87 – 12/8/87 Yes All Yes 186.5 Yes
3/15/96 – 6/1/96 Yes All Yes 359.0 No
4/15/02 – 6/10/02 Yes All Yes 276.9
NEW MEXICO 8/15/85 – 11/13/85 Yes All (i) No 13.6 Yes
NEW YORK 11/1/85 – 1/31/86 Yes All (j) Yes 401.3 Yes
11/1/96 – 1/31/97 Yes All Yes 253.4 Yes (o)
11/18/02 1/31/03 Yes All Yes 520.0 Yes (s)
NEW YORK CITY 10/20/03 – 1/23/04 Yes All (v) Yes (w) No
NORTH CAROLINA 9/1/89 – 12/1/89 Yes All (k) Yes 37.6 No
NORTH DAKOTA 9/1/83 – 11/30/83 No (c) All No 0.2 Yes
10/1/03 – 1/31/04 Yes
OHIO 10/15/01 – 1/15/02 Yes All No 48.5 No
OKLAHOMA 7/1/84 – 12/31/84 Yes Income, Sales Yes 13.9 No (l)
8/15/02 – 11/15/02 All (r) Yes
PENNSYLVANIA 10/13/95 – 1/10/96 Yes All Yes n.a. No
RHODE ISLAND 10/15/86 – 1/12/87 Yes All No 0.7 Yes
4/15/96 – 6/28/96 Yes All Yes 7.9 Yes
SOUTH CAROLINA 9/1/85 – 11/30/85 Yes All Yes 7.1 Yes
10/15/02 – 12/2/02 Yes All Yes 66.2
SOUTH DAKOTA 4/1/99 – 5/15/99 Yes All Yes 0.5
TEXAS 2/1/84 – 2/29/84 No (c) All (m) No 0.5 No
VERMONT 5/15/90 – 6/25/90 Yes All Yes 1.0 (e) No
VIRGINIA 2/1/90 – 3/31/90 Yes All Yes 32.2 No
9/2/03 – 11/3/03 Yes All Yes
WEST VIRGINIA 10/1/86 – 12/31/86 Yes All Yes 15.9 Yes
WISCONSIN 9/15/85 – 11/22/85 Yes All Yes (n) 27.3 Yes
6/15/98 – 8/14/98 Yes All Yes 30.9
DIST. OF COLUMBIA 7/1/87 – 9/30/87 Yes All Yes 24.3 Yes
7/10/95 – 8/31/95 Yes All (p) Yes 19.5 Yes (p)

Source: The Federation of Tax Administrators.

(a) Where applicable, figure includes local portions of certain taxes collected under the state tax amnesty program.
(b) “No” indicates requirement of full payment by the expiration of the amnesty period. “Yes” indicates allowance of full payment after the expiration of the amnesty period.
(c) Authority for amnesty derived from pre-existing statutory powers permitting the waiver of tax penalties.
(d) Does not include intangibles tax and drug taxes. Gross collections totaled $22.1 million, with $13.7 million in penalties withdrawn.
(e) Preliminary figure.
(f) Amnesty taxpayers were billed for the interest owed, with payment due within 30 days of notification.
(g) Figure includes $1.1 million for the separate program conducted by the Department of Natural Resources for the boat excise tax.
(h) The amnesty statute was construed to extend the amnesty to those who applied to the department before the end of the amnesty period, and permitted them to file overdue returns and pay back taxes and interest at a later date.
(i) The severance taxes, including the six oil and gas severance taxes, the resources excise tax, the corporate franchise tax, and the special fuels tax were not subject to amnesty.
(j) Availability of amnesty for the corporation tax, the oil company taxes, the transportation and transmissions companies tax, the gross receipts oil tax and the unincorporated business tax restricted to entities with 500 or fewer employees in the United States on the date of application. In addition, a taxpayer principally engaged in aviation, or a utility subject to the supervision of the State Department of Public Service was also ineligible.
(k) Local taxes and real property taxes were not included.
(l) Full payment of tax liability required before the end of the amnesty period to avoid civil penalties.
(m) Texas does not impose a corporate or individual income tax. In practical effect, the amnesty was limited to the sales tax and other excises.
(n) Waiver terms varied depending upon the date of tax liability was accessed.
(o) Installment arrangements were permitted if applicant demonstrated that payment would present a server financial hardship.
(p) Does not include real property taxes. All interest was waived on tax payments made before July 31, 1995. After this date, only 50% of the interest was waived.
(q) Exception for individuals who owed $500 or less.
(r) Except for property and motor fuel taxes.
(s) Multiple payments can be made so long as the required balance is paid in full no later than March 15, 2003.
(t) All taxes except property, estate and unclaimed property.
(u) Does not include the motor fuel use tax.
(v)  All NYC taxes administered by the NYC Dept. of Finance are covered except for Real Estate Tax.  NYC Sales & Use Tax & NYC Resident Personal Income Tax also are not covered because they are administered by the NYS Dept. of Taxation & Finance.
(w)  Taxpayers under audit as of 3/10/03 are ineligible; Taxpayers with an existing installment agreement are ineligible; Taxpayers under criminal investigation are ineligible;   Taxpayers party to an administrative or court proceding must withdraw as a condition of amnesty.

Last Updated: August 2003

This chart was developed by, and is viewable on the website of:
Federation of Tax Administrators
444 N. Capital Street, NW, Suite 348, Washington, DC 20001
www.admin.org