An audit of the West Virginia Tax Department has found that the state is owed more than $715 million in taxes.
The legislative audit released Tuesday says that out of $715.7 million, $298.3 million owed in about 139,000 tax accounts is collectable. The totals are as of December 2013.
The largest bucket of collectable taxes the state hasn’t received was $104.7 million in personal income tax. The second was $83.9 million in sales tax.
The audit by Legislative Post Audit Division director Denny Rhodes says the department lacks adequate policies and procedures to ensure taxes are collected.
Tax Commissioner Mark Matkovich said the owed taxes include accounts that skew the numbers, like dead taxpayers.
The Tax Department responded that it would seek improvements to eliminate causes of the findings.