Ohio income tax, Franklin County-problem

[NathanG]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

Question...may not have the answer by the time I need it, or at all, but curious.

My fiance owed income tax to Franklin County. He set up a payment plan and paid it off, and was told they would only charge him for the principle owed plus 10%, which saved him some $ in penalties and interest (due to his situation at that time). He paid what he was told, in full, and thought that was that.

Now, several years later, after moving away and back again, he gets a letter from Franklin County saying he owes $1,000 to the tax dept. (penalties and interest). (The court said $600...not sure why the discrepency).

Before he can even call to clear it up, he is pulled over by an officer who did a random check on his license plate. He supposedly did NOT have a warrant out for his arrest, but when the officer called Franklin County to find out what was up, he told my fiance he had to take him in to the precinct....it was for back taxes...and not even taxes..penalties and interest. He was fingerprinted and they took a mug shot. Why did they do that if he had no warrant and was not under arrest?

So, long story a bit shorter, he went to court, the regular judge was on vacation and someone else sat in for him. That judge didn't know what the regular judge would do so he set a date for a pre-trial hearing....the charge is an M1!! (although more than one person there for a 2nd or 3rd DUI was slapped on the wrist, ordered to go thru rehab and pay a small fine/court costs and let go)

My fiance set up a payment plan, even though he feels he doesn't owe the money, and will return to court to find out if he will be charged and have to go to trial... I feel incredulous over this!! The man could have a first degree misdemeanor charge and serve time over a $600 tax bill, that he thought was paid. We're expecting our first baby soon, and HE is the breadwinner right now.

Just wondering if anyone else has experienced something like this for Franklin County and what your outcome was? And, I needed to vent somewhere.

Thanks for your response.

[abezon]

And what did his attorney say about this? Does he qualify for a public defender for a misdemeanor? What did the judge say when he showed the court his receipt stamped 'paid in full'? Does the county acknowledge receiving the original payments or have they lost all record of him ever paying anything? Does the county have any proof it sent other demand letters to this guy? The judge may throw out the criminal charges if your bf can show that he paid everything asked & the county only recently requested more money. Unless bf has something in writing indicating the county told him he was paid in full, the $600 debt likely stands.

What probably happened is the original tax person who settled the bill didn't enter something correctly in the computer & the 'forgiven' penalties & interest were never deleted from the account. They've been snowballing ever since. Or maybe the county has 'upgraded' its computers & certain files got lost or corrupted.