NY State tax department is auditing 60% more restaurants this year than last (1077 audits vs. 646). The tax reviews found the restaurants owed $71.9 million in unpaid taxes; about 25% has been collected so far.
WSJ: "'We certainly have a need right now for multiple billions of dollars, and we're trying to do our best through effective enforcement of the current laws to narrow that gap so that the citizens of New York aren't deprived of important resource or that honest taxpayers aren't hit with an additional tax burden,' said William Comiskey, deputy commissioner of tax enforcement for the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
Mr. Comiskey said 'restaurants are one of the specific areas' that the department is focusing on in its policing of businesses in the so-called cash-based sector."