PORTLAND – Maine is targeting potential scofflaws in a new attempt to collect use taxes on items purchased outside the state.

Maine Revenue Services mailed letters this month to upper-income taxpayers reminding them that they’re obliged to pay the tax. Recipients included about 70,000 business filers and about one in 10 of the state’s 650,000 individual filers, according to Jerome Gerard, the agency’s acting executive director.

While the targets of the campaign are high-income filers and businesses that had declared few or no use taxes in past years, anyone is eligible to participate.

Under the amnesty program, recipients were advised that if they pay up by year’s end, they’ll only be assessed for their three highest years and that all penalties and interest will be waived.

The federal government estimates that Maine loses between $30 million and $100 million in taxes from shoppers who make purchases out-of-state, either directly or by mail-order and online.

States have been sharing information with each other in an effort to capture some of the lost revenue. A similar amnesty program a few years ago brought in more than $1 million, and officials hope this effort will be more successful.

In addition to collecting unpaid taxes, the campaign is aimed at raising public consciousness of the little-known levy.

The use tax applies to purchases in other states that charge less than Maine’s 5 percent sales tax.

Maine’s income tax forms include a line for taxpayers to report their tax liability on items they bought from sellers outside the state, but few individual filers use it. The majority of the use tax is paid by businesses.

In response to the program, Maine Revenue Services has thus far received about 54 returned forms, 13 from individuals.