Illinois Garnishing Wages of Non-filing State Employees.

• Position: Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

The State of Illinois has begun garnishing the wages of more than 1,100 state employees who did not file 1998 state income tax returns. All of these individuals received two letters before the garnishments began, warning them that they could face civil penalties of $250 for failure to file. Still, the Department of Revenue collected only $67,000 of the more than $600,000 owed the state by state employees. Although the state has not brought criminal charges against any of the employees to date, it has not ruled out the possibility of prosecuting perpetual offenders. The list of non-filers...