Can I take a municipality to court over excise tax?

Can I sue a town over improper excise tax assessment? A small town in Massachusetts claims that I owe back excise taxes from 13 YEARS AGO. I never resided in this town and don't know how I got onto their tax list, but they won't budge...they apparently sent these bills to a collection agency years ago, but no longer keep records that far back. I resided in a neighboring city at the time and paid excise tax in THAT city, but I certainly don't have any receipts or cancelled checks from that long ago. Can I take the town to small claims court to force them to clear my record with the DMV or explain why I was taxed 13 years ago? Please HELP....the DMV won't allow me to register my car or transfer my license because of this mix-up!

[racer72]

Yes you can. You will have to provide proof that you did not live in the town (old correspondence or utility bills) and they will have to prove that you did. You can also claim the the statute of limitations has expired also, there is a limit how far the IRS can go back after federal income taxes, so I would have to assume there is one for local taxes.