Philadelphia tax amnesty draws big crowds on its last day

They came because the price was right. Hundreds of people lined up just south of City Hall Friday to pay their overdue taxes, many of them with an enthusiasm more often seen among bargain-hunters swarming a holiday sale or on a TV game show.

The line ran out of an office building on Juniper Street and hooked around the corner onto Walnut Street as the city's tax-amnesty program, which promised to eliminate all penalties and half of accumulated interest on unpaid taxes, ended late in the day.

"It's good. I like it. They give you a break," said Gumersindo Maisonet, a repairman for the city's Water Department.

Maisonet took the train from North Philadelphia to Center City to pay a bill for his daughter, who has been out of work. He also wore a T-shirt with an image of Benjamin Franklin, who has been credited with a saying perfect for the occasion: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Joblessness was a common problem among those who had fallen behind. So were deaths of loved ones, which often leads to tax delinquency when heirs don't know a property exists, or the bill goes to an address where no one lives.

City officials would not say Friday whether Philadelphia's biggest delinquent taxpayer, New China Inc., had taken advantage of the 54-day amnesty. The company owes $3.97 million after failing to pay some wage, business-privilege, and parking taxes from a Chinatown parking garage it operated between 1993 and 2001, according to city records.

Wilson Parking now operates that garage, but no one from that company returned calls for comment.

Wai Hung Sze, who is listed in public documents as New China's chief executive officer, was not at his Schuylkill Township, Chester County, home Friday.

He paid $500,000 for the house in 2001, according to public records. A woman who answered the door there and gave her name as Anna said she was Sze's sister-in-law. Sze was in Hong Kong and has been out of the area for at least three years, she said.

Sze and three of his brothers moved into the house in 2001, said a neighbor who did not want to be identified. The house was often busy with activity - particularly at night - with many cars and apparent family members coming and going, the neighbor said. "There was nothing mean or weird about them," the neighbor said. "They kept to themselves, and we just thought that maybe it was because of their culture."

Public records indicate that Wai Sze and his brothers owed the IRS about $52,000 in 2007, when the federal government filed liens against them.

With or without New China, the city had more interest than it could handle. Taxpayers could apply online or by phone, but many preferred to pay in person.

As of Thursday, the city had received more than $24 million from 21,999 applicants. Its goal was $30 million to $35 million. The city and the School District are owed $583 million in tax principal. The figure is about $943 million if penalties and interest are included.

Among those lined up to pay Friday was Wanda Green, who inherited her mother's home in West Philadelphia several years ago, along with taxes that she said accumulated because the city had not sent the bills. Green had paid off the principal and was appealing the penalties and interest when she heard about the amnesty program.

The city told her she could pay just $236 and clear the $600 remaining tab. Green jumped at the chance. "You can't beat that," the West Philadelphia resident said.

Philadelphia last offered this deal in 1986, when its tax-amnesty program garnered about $25 million. So many people swamped the amnesty office near 13th and Walnut, run by the General Revenue Corp. collection agency, that some were turned away.

Ezra Smith of Wilmington left the line early Friday after being told he could not apply for his business privilege license there. He said he had tried to get through on the phone for days. He said he owes more than $12,000 because he owns rental properties inherited from relatives.

"I'm an honest guy, just a procrastinator," he said.

Tax officials have "all been nice," he said. "They just can't keep up."