‘The Money Just Seems to Increase Every Day Beyond Our Wildest Dreams.’ : State Finds a Gold Vein in Tax Amnesty

California’s tax amnesty program has netted more than $10 million in its first 25 days, including a $1.7-million payment from an oil company, state officials disclosed Thursday.

Also among more than 10,000 taxpayers who have turned themselves in was a Beverly Hills woman who had not filed a tax return for four years. She owed the state $421,000.

During the three-month amnesty period, taxpayers who confess that they owe back taxes can pay their debt--including interest--without penalty or fear of prosecution. Their names will not be made public, but the state will continue its usual policy of sharing tax information with the Internal Revenue Service.

The program will end March 15, when officials say they will begin cracking down harder than ever on tax evasion.

Inquiries about the amnesty program have come from as far away as Asia and Europe, according to a spokesman for the state Franchise Tax Board.

Check From Hong Kong

The state received one check for $4,000 from a man in Hong Kong who had not paid taxes on his California apartment building for the last seven years, he said.

And one individual who did not file a tax return for 1983 set the record for the largest single-year payment --$130,000 in back taxes and interest.

By midday Thursday, the Franchise Tax Board had collected $6.7 million in personal income taxes from about 10,000 individuals. On Wednesday alone, the board received $1.6 million of that amount.

Meanwhile, the State Board of Equalization has collected $3.7 million in back sales and use taxes from 110 businesses, including the unnamed oil company that underreported its tax liability.

“The money just seems to increase every day beyond our wildest dreams,” a spokesman said.

The state had initially estimated that it would receive $66 million through the program. But already it has received four times the number of applications for amnesty expected by this date, he said.