By Mary Lazich
Wednesday, Jan 30 2008, 09:41 AM
Imagine getting a letter from the state Department of Revenue (DOR) declaring that you overpaid your taxes and you receive a check for $3,000.
Four months later, you get a letter from the Department of Revenue that you underpaid, and now owe the state thousands of dollars plus interest.
You pay the original refund, but not the interest because a Department employee tells you that you do not have to.
A few weeks later, another letter arrives, saying you owe interest and the state is going to charge a collection fee.
It happened to a Waukesha resident who contacted me and questioned why he had to pay for the Department erroneously mailing him a refund check.
The story has a happy ending. I looked into the matter and discovered the Department mailed incorrect tax refunds due to a computer problem. The Waukesha man and many other taxpayers with the same predicament, a total of 199, no longer have to pay interest because of the Department’s mistakes.There are more details in today’s Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. You can read the article here.
I have drafted legislation prohibiting the DOR from charging interest to taxpayers for DOR mistakes. The legislation will be introduced soon.
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