TORONTO – The State of New Jersey is seizing trucks for failure to pay the state Corporate Business Tax (CBT), but has reached a voluntary compliance agreement with the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), which can help Canadian carriers comply while avoiding late fees.

New Jersey seized over 30 commercial vehicles for failure to pay the CBT in the last week of October. The CBT applies to all trucking companies making any pickups or delivery in the state regardless if they have a terminal in the U.S. or not.

But the CTA-NJ voluntary compliance initiative will run from November 15, 2014 to December 30, 2014 and offers CTA members the opportunity to voluntarily come forward to register their business and file the appropriate taxes.

For the CTA members, the benefit of taking part in this program is that the carrier will be eligible for the favorable terms that are offered under the voluntary disclosure program. These include relief from the late filing and late payment penalties as well as a general look-back period of four years (three prior years and the current year). The program also provides that no enforcement action will be taken by NJ investigators should the tax payer be uncovered while conducting compliance initiatives at weigh stations or checkpoints .

Canadian carriers are eligible for the program if they:

1. Have no previous contact with the taxpayer by the division or any of its agents;
2. Are not registered for the taxes they wish to come forward on;
3. Are not currently under any criminal investigation;
4. Are willing to pay outstanding tax liabilities and file the prior year returns within a reasonable period.               

To obtain the instructions to participate in this CTA-NJ voluntary disclosure program, please contact the provincial trucking association that you belong to and request the information package. For more information on the tax go to: http://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/corp_over.shtml.