Tax amnesty efforts not working

The Associated Press is reporting that a tax amnesty program in New York hasn't panned out the way lawmakers had hoped:

"Delinquent New York taxpayers apparently don't owe that much after all, or they just refuse to pay up.

Either way, Gov. David Paterson says the projected windfall from a tax amnesty program was way off. Even after it was extended, the program now is expected to pull in about $50 million, just one-fifth of the $250 million he expected.

The tax shortfall is part of the current deficit of $2.1 billion.

The current tax amnesty allow debtors to settle their bills as long as they weren't already under audit or facing a bill for the delinquency.

In December, Paterson and the Legislature agreed to the new tax amnesty program to help close a multibillion dollar deficit."