Panel OKs tax penalty waiver

Thursday, July 8, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- Businesses that did not know they were subject to new taxes imposed by the 2003 Legislature will have until Dec. 31 to pay up without facing a $100 penalty.

The Nevada Tax Commission on Tuesday granted the waiver in an effort to get businesses to comply with the law. But Chuck Chinnock, executive director of the Nevada Department of Taxation, said the waiver of the $100 penalty will not be made for companies that just refused to pay.

About 140,000 to 150,000 businesses have registered with the department to pay the new $100 per year registration fee. Chinnock said based on the data bank of the Internal Revenue Service, there may be another 200,000 to 250,000 Nevada firms that have yet to register and pay the $100 annual fee.

He said letters are going out to all the known companies to get them to comply with the law. Some of them may have gone out of business or left the state.

Those who have not filed will owe $100 in fees from last fiscal year and $100 for this fiscal year, he said.

The new taxes were enacted effective Oct. 1.

The Legislature also imposed a 0.7 percent tax on gross payroll of companies who are allowed to deduct payments for health insurance for employees. That tax fell to 0.65 percent on July 1.

Chinnock said his department, using records in the state Division of Employment Security, has "pretty much" identified those businesses subject to the tax, and he said they have paid. The same goes for the 2 percent payroll tax on banks and other financial institutions.