Is “Shame” an Appropriate Way to Deal with Tax Debt?
In Pennsylvania, the state is getting ready to try to embarrass citizens and businesses into paying their taxes. At the end of a 54-day amnesty period during which penalties and interest were waived on tax bills, the state is getting ready to roll-call those who are still delinquent[1]. This is the other half of the deal that the state Department of Revenue initiated with the amnesty period, during which $261 million were collected, although in one county, more than $1.8 million remained unpaid.
“We don’t like to go the embarrassment route, but these folks have left us no other option,” said Department of Revenue spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell. She is hoping that businesses, in particular, will experience negative ramifications of having their delinquencies publicized and pay up rather than lose consumer traffic.
To some extent, this type of publicity has been going on in the tax lien arena for years, since properties that are delinquent are publicized and ultimately placed up for auction. Do you think that trying to embarrass people with delinquencies is appropriate? Does this method bother you?
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[1] http://www.centredaily.com/2010/10/10/2262507/state-aims-to-shame-debtors.html