State gets more money than expected from tax scofflaws

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to track down tax scofflaws to help the state’s struggling finances generated $717 million in payments, more than expected.

The program sought to get people behind in paying taxes to pay up immediately, luring them in by waiving penalties and fees in exchange.

Critics of the idea argued that the state would have collected most of the money anyway — and even more because of interest and penalties — through the Department of Revenue’s regular enforcement actions.

But Quinn said the state, which is billions of dollars behind in paying its bills, needed the money now.

“This much-needed revenue will help our state to meet its obligations and is another important step towards making Illinois fiscally sound,” Quinn said in a statement.

The state’s current budget predicted the program would bring in $250 million. The state netted $314 million from the five-week program.

The rest of the money goes to local governments and to pay out state income tax refunds.

More than 60,000 individuals paid income taxes they owed. The most money, though, came from more than 5,200 businesses owing income taxes. They ponied up $252 million, according to Quinn’s office.