CITY OF RENTON WASHINGTON

If your business is discovered through the City's own efforts (e.g., enforcement, investigation, audit), you may be liable for tax, interest, penalties of 34 percent of the tax due, and a "look back" period of 10 years plus the current year.

The Voluntary Disclosure Program can offer you the following benefits:

• The "look back" period for your tax liability is limited to the prior four years plus the current year.
• Up to 34 percent in potential penalties can be waived, which include:
  • 5 percent assessment penalty for substantially underpaid tax.
  • 29 percent late payment of a return penalty.
• As well as a $250 failure to obtain license penalty.
• The City can summarize your unreported tax liability in a single tax assessment.

Full statutory interest will still be imposed on all amounts due.

To qualify for full voluntary disclosure benefits a business must have:

• Not been contacted by the City to determine if the business should have been registered or regarding specific outstanding obligations.
• Not engaged in evasion or misrepresentation in reporting tax liabilities.

You may not know if your business has been previously registered with the City for business license and tax purposes. Please contact the Tax & License Division at [email protected] or 425-430-6851.

If a business that is currently registered discovers that it has underreported its tax obligations, it should amend its returns and submit any additional tax and interest due.

If our records indicate your business was previously contacted by the City in an effort to determine our registration and reporting requirements, or regarding other enforcement issues, you will not qualify for the Voluntary Disclosure Program.

If you would like the City to work with a third party representative, you must provide a completed Confidential Tax Information Authorization at the time of disclosure in order for the City to correspond with them regarding your confidential taxpayer information.

Taxpayers must submit the following items to begin the voluntary disclosure process:
• Letter and or application requesting voluntary disclosure (including an explanation of the business activities, both in Renton and worldwide).
• Schedules (by year) showing gross income generated in Renton, along with any deductions.
• A Confidential Taxpayer Information Authorization form if a third party will be representing the business.

Once your tax liability has been determined, the City will prepare a tax assessment with interest. You will be sent a draft copy of the assessment for review. The assessment will then be submitted for processing and you will receive a billing notice. Full payment must be received according to the payment instructions on your billing notice. Additional interest and late payment penalties will accrue if the billing notice is not paid in full by the due date.

In the event that your application was not approved, you will receive an explanation from the City, along with further instructions. All monies paid with the registration are non-refundable.