Topeka ? A tax amnesty program designed to settle old tax liabilities netted the state nearly double what revenue officials were anticipating.

Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon said Monday that the department had collected $23.5 million from Feb. 9 through June 30, the end of the state’s 2003 fiscal year. Revenue officials had estimated the state would collect $12.5 million from cases that were in litigation or under audit.

“These were people who didn’t believe they owed what we said they owed,” Wagnon said.

As applied, the tax amnesty program waived interest and penalties. Revenue officials then reached a settlement with taxpayers on the amount owed. Most of the owed taxes were sales, corporate, use or mineral taxes, ranging from $1,000 to $4.35 million.

A second round of tax amnesty will run from Oct. 1 through the end of November, targeting cases that are in the collection phase. Wagnon said she was confident that the department would collect $19.5 million.

Legislators approved the second round during the 2003 session as they sought new revenue sources to fund the state’s $10 billion budget. The idea was first presented by members of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ advisory teams, who sought ways to reduce government spending and increase revenue.

Wagnon was scheduled to brief legislators today about the collections, as well as implementation of changes made to the state’s sales tax law. The changes require businesses to collect sales tax based on where goods change hands in an effort to capture tax revenue on remote sales. The law eventually would lead to collection of at least $70 million in Internet and catalog sales.