You asked (1) if a constituent who has a long-standing dispute with the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) over gift tax liability and the value of the property involved is eligible for the 2009 state tax amnesty and (2) if so, how the constituent can apply for the program.

As you know, the Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to give legal opinions and this report should not be taken as one.

The information provided with your request is not specific enough to determine if your constituent's case would be covered by the 2009 amnesty program.

PA 08-1, November 24 Special Session, enacted a tax amnesty program to run from May 1 to June 25, 2009 and covering taxable periods ending on or before November 30, 2008. The program covers all state taxes including gift tax. However, a taxpayer who owes taxes is eligible for an amnesty only if he or she:

1. failed to file a required tax return for the taxable period or

2. filed a return that did not report his or her full tax and DRS did not examine the return.

Information on the DRS website also specifies that taxpayers already in a payment plan with, or who have received a tax bill from, DRS are ineligible for the period covered by the plan or bill. Furthermore, taxpayers may be ineligible if they are:

1. currently being audited by DRS or

2. parties to any criminal investigation or to any civil or criminal litigation involving DRS.

DRS will start taking amnesty applications on May 1, 2009. It will not accept applications before that date. The department states that it will post additional information about the program on its website (http://www.ct.gov/drs/site/default.asp) “in the near future.”

JL:ts