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(Salt Lake City-AP) -- Thousands of businesses' back-taxes are costing the state millions.
According to 2001 figures, more than 13-thousand companies have failed to turn over sales taxes collected from retail customers or income tax withheld from employees' paychecks.
That amounts to about 38 (m) million dollars in losses.
The audit notes a trend of businesses using tax money that's not theirs to spend.
And shows that bankruptcies have jumped more than 200 percent over the past seven years.
The chairman of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee says there's room for the tax commission to tighten up its enforcement.
He also says delinquencies must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis so that businesses making a sincere attempt to pay aren't prosecuted.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
