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It's getting increasingly difficult to hide from the tax man in New York State, thanks to improved automation, more efficient use of third-party data and tougher disclosure laws. Tax revenue obtained through "enforcement actions" has increased 40 percent during the past six months, bringing in an extra $185 million, and crushing some small businesses along the way. In fact, the Empire State is getting so good at shaking down taxpayers that one analyst tells the Times other states "envy" New York!
The improved enforcement methodology includes tactics like using sales data from liquor wholesalers to identify bars and restaurants that may be underreporting how many drinks they sell. Caught up in the crackdown are cash businesses like Manhattan strip club Ten's Cabaret, which is being pursued for $538,113 in unpaid taxes. Bouley Bakery was also forced to pay $367,522 in back taxes, and a Bowery convenience store went out of business after racking up almost a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid corporate taxes in recent years. (The location is now a high-end women’s boutique.)
But at least the state is also snaring big fish like the Walt Disney Corp., which paid $3.3 million in corporate taxes in July. (According to the Post, the No. 1 New York state tax deadbeat is a Queens man named Gui Hong Chen who owes $19 million in unpaid cigarette taxes.) And with a $3 billion budget gap looming, some lawmakers want even tougher enforcement. One bill being considered in Albany would give state agencies the right to deny renewals of professional licenses (everything from medical licenses to cosmetology licenses) to those who ignore tax warrants. The state is also considering a website to publicize the name of any tax delinquent who owes the state more than $5,000. Maybe they should get Fox 5's Arnold Diaz to throw delinquents into a "shame" spiral, too!
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Only a matter of time before they peek at everyone's credit card statements to determine if you bought anything on the Internet that they want to tax you for.
Yep. They'll also look over your ebay records to make sure you pay capital gains tax on those Jim Croce LPs.
What a load of bull. Let's stimulate the economy by making it so difficult for small businesses to survive that we have no jobs anymore. :(
those small business should have paid their taxes. i feel no pity. the small business that pay their share of taxes should be happy they now have less competition.
If the tax laws should be changed to give small business a break, that's a different issue. The issue here is that all of us should be paying our share of taxes, and shouldn't be breaking the law. Providing a few jobs doesn't, and shouldn't, result in amnesty.
i don't have a problem with the state going after tax delinquents. just quit hiking taxes on cigarettes and booze. vice is nice, baby!
they need to money to pour down rat-holes like the MTA, Yankee Stadium and Ground Zero, which of course will all ultimately end up in thier private bank accounts. Or spending over $14,000 PER STUDENT for public education, (translation: $1000.00 per student, $13,000 for corruption/bloated admin salaries)
We finally found the one thing that New York state government is better at than other state governments -- collecting taxes.
Too bad we can't go after the politicians who flush our tax dollars down the toilet with the same vigor.
Id be more enthused about doing taxes and less likely to fall behind my returns, if it werent so complicated. In my country we need to regularly perform business activity statements which can take weeks on end to complete. Thankfully for my small business Ive just hired the assistance of an inhouse tax agent who has helped immensely.