Gingrich Proposes One-Year Tax Amnesty Program

House Speaker Newt Gingrich proposed Sunday that Americans with overdue taxes be given a one-year amnesty to pay up without penalties. The move could bring in billions of dollars in extra revenue as Congress and the White House struggle to balance the budget, he said.

Gingrich (R-Ga.) said the proposal, already tried by several states, would give people a onetime opportunity to “pay up their back taxes to clear the board, and then we would have stiffer penalties if they didn’t take advantage of the amnesty.”

That would increase revenues by several billion dollars and “allow us to have an even deeper tax cut for the honest taxpayers in America,” Gingrich said on “Fox News Sunday.”

In the past week Gingrich has tried to reassert leadership on the tax issue that is central to the Republican agenda, urging elimination of capital gains and estate levies. Conservatives criticized him earlier for suggesting that tax cuts could be put off until after a budget deal is struck with the administration.

Other Republicans insisted Sunday that tax cuts be a part of any budget agreement. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said on CNN’s “Late Edition” that talks with the White House must come to fruition this week. “I really don’t think this can go on forever,” Domenici said. “This is a make-it or break-it week.”

Taxes remain the key point of contention. The Clinton administration says it can accept $100 billion in tax reductions as part of a plan to balance the budget by the year 2002. Republicans seek twice as much.