Some states asking the tax man to get tougher

[Lloyd Danforth]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BROKEN_BUDGETS_UNLEASHING_THE_TAX_MAN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=


MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Dentist Frank Illuzzi was stunned when Vermont tax collectors began demanding a 6 percent sales tax on the value of toothbrushes and floss he hands out to patients. Senior care facility operator Jay Grimes was similarly surprised to get a $350,000 bill slapping a 9 percent restaurant tax on the meals served to residents in the dining room. Landscaper Richard "Buckwheat" Lowe got $18,000 in bills taxing him for the first time ever on the mulch he sells.

Vermont is among a handful of cash-strapped states getting more aggressive about collecting every tax owed - hiring more collectors, hounding scofflaws and exploiting corners of their tax laws that haven't been enforced in years. It's an effort to avoid what politicians from both parties are dead set against: raising taxes.