(Washington, DC)  – Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi today announced that the DC tax amnesty program collected more than $20.8 million in back taxes and interest from 11,518 delinquent taxpayers, exceeding the 2010 budget estimate.

The amnesty program, which began on August 2 and ended on September 30, allowed delinquent individuals and businesses to pay their overdue taxes and interest, while avoiding penalties and fees.

“We are very pleased to have exceeded our goal of collecting $20 million in delinquent taxes,” said Gandhi. “This money has come at a most important time.”

“We had a good level of participation,” said Stephen M. Cordi, deputy chief financial officer for the Office of Tax and Revenue. “We are encouraged that so many taxpayers found ways to pay their delinquent taxes. More importantly, the elimination of thousands of our collection cases will allow staff to pursue collection from those who did not take advantage of the amnesty.”

Legislation enacted for the amnesty authorizes the District to require employers to withhold additional money from the paycheck of tax delinquents. Employed tax delinquents who did not participate in the amnesty should expect additional money to be withheld from their paychecks as early as January.

Amnesty Highlights:

• Payment breakdown by tax type:
  • 45 percent -- Individual Income
  • 16 percent -- Sales and Use
  • 13 percent -- Corporate Franchise
  • 11 percent -- Unincorporated Franchise
  • 8 percent -- Personal Property
  • 4 percent -- Withholding
  • 3 percent -- Other
• 18,150 -- Web site hits
• 10,048 -- Inbound calls from taxpayers
• $954,916 -- the largest individual payment
• $870,878.77 -- the largest business payment
• About 120 people took advantage of OTR’s Customer Service Center’s extended hours on the last day to drop off their returns. Two people showed up at 11:58 pm, with two minutes left in the amnesty period.