One of the Indiana laws that took effect yesterday authorizes the department of revenue to publish on the Internet "a list of taxpayers who are subject to tax warrants issued at least 24 months before the date of the publication of the list, and 'sunsets' the authority to publish the list after June 30, 2006." Where is this law? It is found at SECTION 41 of HEA 1365 (PL 81-2004), which amends IC 6-8.1-3-16, effective July 1, 2004, by adding new subsections (j), (k) and (l):
(j) IC 5-14-3-4, IC 6-8.1-7-1, and any other law exempting information from disclosure by the department does not apply to this subsection. From the list prepared under subsection (a), the department shall compile each month a list of the taxpayers subject to tax warrants that:The Indianapolis Star writes about the new website today, in a story titled "Scofflaws owe $509 million in state taxes: Indiana posts names of offending people, businesses on the Internet." Some quotes:(1) were issued at least twenty-four (24) months before the date of the list; andThe list compiled under this subsection must identify each taxpayer liable for a warrant by name, address, and amount of tax. The department shall publish the list compiled under this subsection on accessIndiana (as defined in IC 5-21-1-1.5) and make the list available for public inspection and copying under IC 5-14-3. The department or an agent, employee, or officer of the department is immune from liability for the publication of information under this subsection.
(2) are for amounts that exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).(k) The department may not publish a list under subsection (j) that identifies a particular taxpayer unless at least two (2) weeks before the publication of the list the department sends notice to the taxpayer stating that the taxpayer:
(1) is subject to a tax warrant that:(A) was issued at least twenty-four (24) months before the date of the notice; and(B) is for an amount that exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000); and(2) will be identified on a list to be published on accessIndiana unless a tax release is issued to the taxpayer under subsection (b).
(l) The department may not publish a list under subsection (j) after June 30, 2006.
Indiana officials turned to public shame Thursday to go after tax scofflaws, unveiling an online list of 26,800 businesses and individuals who collectively owe about a half-billion dollars in overdue taxes.I checked out the INDEBT website yesterday. Although it gives an incorrect citation to its authorizing law, citing it as "Indiana Public Law 1365-2004," the site works as advertised. After checking out some names online, and reviewing a lengthly list of all the individual taxpayers in Marion County who owe taxes, I elected to (just because I could) download the complete Individual List, and the complete Business List. The former is currently 3.8 MB, and the latter 13.8 MB. The lists can be readily opened, searched and sorted in Excel, or the database of your choice. But the question is, what would one do with the information on the lists of tax delinquents? Posted by Marcia Oddi at July 2, 2004 08:34 AMIt's the computer version of a scarlet letter for these delinquent taxpayers. The Internet list, maintained by the Indiana Department of Revenue, includes taxpayers' names, addresses and the amounts they owe. Anyone who has owed at least $1,000 for two years is on the list. * * *
The 98,000 tax warrants on the Web site add up to $509 million. That's enough to pay the salaries of 11,000 public school teachers for a year. It's enough to wipe out, at least for a year, half of the state's budget deficit.
The biggest culprits: businesses. They make up about $460 million of the half-billion dollars' worth of warrants. More than $100 million of the delinquencies is owed by out-of-state firms. * * *
The mere threat of this public scolding, which was included in a letter sent to businesses and individuals who owed the state money, prompted more than 2,000 taxpayers to fork over almost a million dollars in back taxes.