Auditors reviewing $526 million in tax errors made by Indiana's tax collection agency said Monday they will investigate whether state employees are knowledgeable enough to track tax collections and whether the state has adequate internal controls to guard against future errors.
Representatives of the accounting firm Deloitte told Indiana budget leaders their assessment of what needs to be audited could last through August. The audit itself could take months longer after that.
Indiana's state government is sitting on cash reserves of $2.15 billion following a year of continued budget cuts and improved tax collections.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is touting state cash reserves he says will send an additional $100 to each Indiana taxpayer through automatic tax credits next year.
May's state tax revenue came in $143 million below projections. That comes after April's revenue was up about $159 million due to faster-than-usual tax returns processing.
Indiana's nearly 20-year-old casino industry is facing declining revenues and growing out-of-state competition, prompting lawmakers to consider what, if any, regulatory changes might be able to stem the tide.
Indiana's child protection agency is restoring about $10 million in funding to boost in-home programs and services, three years after asking providers of those services to cut their rates by 10 percent.
Former Fifth Third Bank president Mike Alley will take over as the state’s revenue commissioner. He’ll replace John Eckart, who resigned last week amid controversy over misplaced local option income taxes.
A leading legislator said he expects the State Budget Committee to take some time reviewing a second computer programming mistake made by the Indiana Department of Revenue that short-changed local governments by about $205 million.
The head of Indiana's Department of Revenue and two other officials are resigning after $205 million in local option income taxes were not distributed to counties. Marion County will get an extra $41 million from the oversight.
Indiana lawmakers are working toward final agreement on several tax and spending issues in the last days of this year's legislative session.
Figures released Monday by the State Budget Agency show tax revenues for February came in less than expected by nearly $29 million, or about 4 percent. That follows a shortfall of about 3.5 percent for January.
State senators allocated more state money for victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse and full-day kindergarten as part of a broad spending plan approved Wednesday.
Budget leaders in the Indiana Legislature are nearing agreement on plans for phasing out the state's inheritance tax and changing the automatic taxpayer refund so that it could only be triggered every other year.
Parents across Indiana weary of paying sometimes-hefty fees for their children to attend full-day kindergarten classes could soon catch a break.
Indiana's public school districts wouldn't be able to end school bus service for their students under a proposal advancing in the General Assembly after protests from parents in a suburban Indianapolis district who now face annual bills of more than $400 a child for rides to and from school.
Indiana's state tax collections came in slightly below projections for January, the first monthly shortfall since the new state budget year began last July.
Indiana casinos saw their take from gambling fall in 2011, and new competition in Ohio and perhaps other neighboring states virtually guarantees things will get worse from here.
An Indiana Senate committee is advancing a plan to put more money into state savings accounts before automatic tax refunds go out to taxpayers.
Amazon.com will begin collecting Indiana's 7-percent sales tax from customers in 2014 under an agreement with the state announced Monday.
