POST FALLS - Idaho state Rep. Frank Henderson, a member of the Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, said the committee took action this past week to increase state revenues by deciding to hire more state tax auditors to collect already-owed taxes.

"This is the kind of thing you can almost bet your hat on that it will pass" both the House and Senate, said Henderson, R-Post Falls, in an interview after he spoke at Saturday's Panhandle Coalition meeting at the Post Falls Senior Center.

"It brings in money," he said.

State Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, said afterward, "It's a great start, but I would have liked to see it go a little further."

Henderson said the state has a "collectible tax gap" of about $67 million.

Tax gap is a term that describes the amount of tax liability imposed by existing law that is not paid voluntarily and in a timely manner. The collectible tax gap is the portion of it that is expected to be recoverable. Underreporting accounts for 49 percent of the tax gap, underpayment accounts for 21 percent, and nonfiling accounts for 30 percent, according to the Idaho state Tax Commission.

In difficult budget times like now, the tax gap gets more attention because it provides an opportunity to increase revenues without raising taxes.

If the commissions budget is cut by $1 million, it leads to approximately $10 million fewer dollars available for all other state general fund agencies.

Henderson said investing in tax auditors, tax compliance technicians and other commission positions pays off. Legislation to increase revenues would take several months to be effective.

The commission said that for a $1 million investment it can bring in $10 million. In 2003, Idaho spent $926,000 on additional auditors and collectors, bringing in more than $12 million, according to commission numbers.

Sayler, a member of the Revenue and Taxation Committee, pointed out another area where revenues could be increased without raising taxes or fees: collect sales taxes on Internet, catalog and telephone sales.

He said the Revenue and Taxation Committee voted to have a hearing on the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, to look at being part of that national effort to collect taxes on such sales.

"If the bill is passed it puts Idaho at the table with the other states that already are participating in the project," Sayler said.

He said the state is losing as much as $50 million every year because it hasn't collected on Internet, catalog and telephone sales the way it should. People in Idaho already are required to pay those taxes.

Earlier this month, the state Senate voted to join the national effort, called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. Senators have said brick-and-mortar businesses have suffered from online shopping, and is losing tax revenue. The Senate and House bills are similar.

Henderson said all states must operate the same when it comes to Internet sales to make collecting the tax work.

Sayler agreed, saying collecting those revenue is "down the road a ways."