Tax Amnesty

As part of the 2010 Legislative Session, the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR) has been authorized to administer a Tax Amnesty Program (TAP) covering a number of state taxes. Generally, all taxes administered by the FDOR are covered under the TAP, except unemployment tax and Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Fees.

The TAP covers tax, penalty, and interest charges that were due before July 2010. As part of participating in the TAP, eligible taxpayers must complete a Tax Amnesty Agreement. This agreement can be completed via paper form or filed electronically.

Eligible taxpayers are those who: (1) complete a Tax Amnesty Agreement; (2) have a liability of tax, penalty, and/or interest due before July 2010; (3) such liability is not already covered under a settlement or payment agreement; (4) are not under a pretrial intervention or diversion program, probation, community control, or in a work camp, jail, state prison, or another correctional institute/system regarding a Florida revenue law; and (5) are not under criminal investigation, indictment, information, or prosecution regarding a Florida revenue law.

So why would you enroll in the TAP? For participation in the program, penalties associated with delinquent taxes will be completely abated and any interest due will be reduced by half. Should you be under audit or otherwise notified by the FDOR, you can still participate in the TAP assuming all other criteria are met! In this case, penalties will still be abated; however, only one-quarter of such interest will be abated.

The TAP is time sensitive. Taxpayers interested in participating in the program have from July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2010, to enroll and complete the requirements of the TAP. Completion of the TAP does NOT mean that you must pay resulting taxes and interest by September 30, 2010. If you are unable to pay the full balance of penalty and interest due, the TAP allows payments to be made on an installment basis. If you need to make payments on an installment basis, you must pay at least 12.5% of the amount due under amnesty and pay the remaining balance over no more than seven monthly installments. Please note that if installment payments are made, interest will continue to accrue on the unpaid portion of the balance until such balance is fully repaid. Failure to pay the remaining balance in seven or fewer installments will void the TAP agreement and the full liability will be due immediately, including any previous penalty and interest abated under the program.

Below is a link to the FDOR website where additional information regarding the TAP can be found, including the amnesty agreement application:
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/amnesty/