Tax fairness helps people

TAX DELINQUENTS GET "CAUGHT IN THE WEB"

In fiscal year 2000,
Maryland got tough
with delinquent taxpay-
ers in a new high-tech
way - by listing on the
comptroller's Web site
taxpayers who refuse to
pay their "fair share."

"Listing these
people on the Web is
the newest tool we can
use to make sure these
individuals and busi-
nesses do what nearly
everyone else in Mary-
land does - pay their taxes," said Comptroller William Donald Schaefer.
The taxpayers initially "caught in the Web" failed to respond to repeated
payment requests and collectively owed almost $10 million in overdue
taxes, penalties, and interest. Letters warning potential candidates for the
program brought in payments even before the list was posted.

The first 50 accounts listed, many with liabilities in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, are already part of the public record because tax
liens have been filed for each case. None of the taxpayers listed are in bank-
ruptcy or have active payment plans. Names are removed from the list as
soon as the liability is resolved.

Another tool that the Comptroller's Office is using to ensure fair-
ness is a system called STAX, data compression software made especially
for state taxing authorities. The Maryland Comptroller's Office was one
of the first state agencies to use federal data for state tax compliance pro-
grams. These compliance programs match state and federal data to
determine when tax is due to Maryland, based on amounts reported to the

Comptroller William
Donald Schaefer checks
out his agency's online
list of tax delinquents.

COMPTROLLER OF MARYLAND