A House committee gave its OK to legislation that would prohibit state and local government tax collectors from hiring private tax auditors who are paid based on the taxes assessed. Bill supporters told members of the House Commerce and Job Development Committee that tax auditing based on contingency awards encourages aggressive and unfair assessments on taxpayers. “You need people without a financial motive,” said lobbyist and former state Rep. Chuck Neely. Some local governments employ the private tax auditors to find and establish values for equipment and other property, especially that owned by businesses. Perry James, chief financial officer for the city of Raleigh, said private auditors also are essential to assessments for utility franchise taxes and business privilege taxes, particularly for non-traditional businesses such as those operating on-line. “The business community doesn’t look like it used to,” James said. But Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, called the contingency awards a “I-gotcha” approach to tax collection. “No one would want to go before a judge (paid) based on how many convictions they got,” added Rep. Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell. The bill now goes to the House floor.
(THE INSIDER)
06/28/12
