This week the State of New Jersey seized over 30 commercial vehicles for failure to pay the state Corporate Business Tax (CBT).
The CBT is applied to all trucking companies making any pickups or delivery in the state regardless if they have a terminal in the US or not. Just as the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) did in 2003, CTA has reached out to the state to seek a voluntary compliance arrangement. Such an arrangement was reached once again.
A voluntary compliance initiative will be taking place between the CTA and the NJ Division of Taxation starting on November 15, 2014. The program will run from November 15, 2014 to December 30, 2014. It offers CTA members the opportunity to voluntarily come forward to register their business and file the appropriate taxes.
For the CTA members, the benefit of taking part in this program is that the carrier will be eligible for the favorable terms that are offered under the Voluntary Disclosure Program. These include relief from the Late Filing and Late Payment Penalties as well as a general look-back period of four years (three prior years and the current year). The program also provides that no enforcement action will be taken by NJ investigators should the tax payer be uncovered while conducting compliance initiatives at weigh stations or checkpoints .
The general guidelines to be eligible for the Voluntary Disclosure Program are:
- No previous contact with the Taxpayer by the Division or any of its Agents;
- Taxpayer is not registered for the taxes they wish to come forward on;
- Taxpayer is not currently under any criminal investigation.
- Taxpayer must be willing to pay outstanding tax liabilities and file the prior year returns within a reasonable period.
To obtain the instructions to participate in this CTA-NJ voluntary disclosure program, CTA carrier members can contact their provincial association. For more information on the tax click here.