Arizona is auditing fewer businesses. Now state revenue is down
As Arizona leaders have built budgets that leave little room for teacher raises and other popular spending priorities, the state has cut back on efforts to ensure taxpayers — especially businesses — pay what they owe.
The Arizona Department of Revenue, the state's tax collector, has instead emphasized customer service andcollecting sales taxes on behalf of cities statewide.
The effect? Revenue from audits fell from $155 million in 2016 to $80 million in 2017.
To put the decline in perspective, it is more than triple the $24 million budget shortfall state budget officials expect at the end of the current fiscal year. And it occurred in areas where the agency has cut staffing: corporate auditing and in checking business licensing for sales taxes.
It comes a year after experts warned state lawmakers that layoffs in the agency's auditing department at that time would eventually cut its collections.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/10/29/arizona-auditing-fewer-businesses-now-state-revenue-down/750924001/