The administration hoped to collect around $14 million of the $199 million in known tax debts.

AUGUSTA (AP) – Anyone who owes back taxes to the state has until 5 p.m. Monday afternoon to settle up, or face prospects of enforcement action by Maine Revenue Services.

The Tax Amnesty program, announced in August by Gov. John Baldacci, was designed for those who either underpaid their state taxes or didn’t pay at all. It applies to all state taxes.

Hoping to bolster revenues that lag behind state obligations, the administration hoped to collect around $14 million of the $199 million in known tax debts through the amnesty program.

It’s only the second time Maine has administered such a program, which allows those owing money to get their names removed from a delinquent list by paying their taxes in full plus half of the interest charges.

By mid-November, the state had collected about $13.5 million through the program, putting it close to its goal. The amnesty has been heavily advertised in Maine media markets.

Preliminary figures for the first quarter of this fiscal year showed sales tax revenues ahead of projections by $2.5 million in September and by $4.4 million year to date. State officials linked part of the sales tax surplus to the amnesty program.

After Monday’s deadline, state tax collectors said they would step up enforcement of Maine’s tax laws, giving delinquents all the more reason to pay up.

Several other states and New York City are offering similar amnesty programs this year, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators, a Washington, D.C., organization.

Maine’s tax amnesty office is located in Augusta at the Capitol Shopping Center. Applications were available at city and town halls, public libraries, online or by calling toll-free 1-866-430-3161. A Web site, www.state.me.us/revenue/amnesty/, was also established to dispense information about the program.