Oregon Public Broadcasting

According to a new audit from the Oregon Secretary of State, about 66 thousand people earned income in Oregon in 2007 but didn't file state income tax returns. Amelia Templeton reports. The auditors started with a list of about 200 thousand people who lived in Oregon in 2007 and filed a federal tax return, but didn't file state income tax that year or the next two years. 

Auditors narrowed the list down to about 66,000 people who definitely should have filed a return. 

The report estimates they collectively owed about 100 million dollars.  But the Department of Revenue will have trouble collecting that money. 

Derrick Gasperini is communications manager for the department: "We would expect to collect 54 million over 5 years of that 109 million."The audit says the Department of Revenue should be more systematic in its efforts to track down people who aren't filing returns. The Department says their database system is about 20 years old.

That has made it hard to do this kind of analysis.