With economic woes facing much of the country, lawmakers are looking for ways to raise a quick buck.Louisiana is facing its own crisis because of the downturn in the national economy — a $1.3 billion crisis.In response to the revenue shortage, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced in a Feb. 19 news release plans to implement a tax amnesty program.If only former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle were from Louisiana, he might be a cabinet officer.Under the program, if a delinquent pays his entire tax bill, all the penalties and half of the interest will be waived. The taxpayer will still be responsible for 50 percent of the interest.The administration expects to collect up to $150 million through this program.The revenue collected will not be used to shore up the budget, though. Instead, it will be used to “pay off state debt, make one-time investments and reduce the backlog in our construction program,” according to the release.This is not the first time the state has offered a program allowing people to come clean with their taxes.This will be the fifth such program since 1985. The most lucrative, launched in 2001, brought in $192 million.A tax amnesty plan brings to mind discussions of another type of amnesty.In 2007, the U.S. Senate voted on legislation offering illegal immigrants an opportunity to remain in the country and ease their path to full U.S. citizenship.The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 eventually failed to pass the Senate, largely because of the anger expressed by conservatives towards the authors and supporters of the bill.The most common criticism was the worry that people who broke U.S. laws were being rewarded for their criminality.Illegal immigrants are able to avail themselves of taxpayer-subsidized health care and education at no cost. While legal immigrants and other citizens are forced to pay taxes to support these services, their illegal counterparts are not so encumbered.Not only would the legislation allow illegal immigrants to remain here, it would offer them a path to citizenship unavailable to others who went through the system legally. There was an advantage to being a criminal.Similarly, citizens who don’t pay their taxes are rewarded while law-abiding citizens foot the bill.If one citizen does not pay his taxes, it means the revenue gained from others’ taxes must stretch further. When fewer taxes are being collected, there is less money to fund government expenditures. The average taxpayer gets less for the money he hands to the government because someone else felt it unnecessary to pay his taxes.Delinquent taxpayers hurt their neighbors.But now, instead of being forced to pay the penalty for their criminal activity, these citizens are being rewarded. They were able to use the services offered by the state of Louisiana at no charge.The state estimates roughly $297 million is owed in back taxes from July 1, 2001, through Dec. 30, 2008, the period for which amnesty will be offered.That’s almost $300 million of services either cut from the budget or underfunded.The ones who suffer because of this delinquency are the people of the state.The governor’s plan may bring in needed revenue — at a price.Citizens who have not paid their taxes will get a break because of the amnesty plan, and it should raise some much-needed funds for the state. But those of us who were responsible and paid our taxes are the ones subsidizing the program.Drew Walker is a 24-year-old philosophy senior from Walker.—-Contact Drew Walker at [email protected]
Walk Hard: Proposed tax amnesty plan rewards criminal activity
March 2, 2009