Question on penalties for back taxes

[Trowe]

I live in Ohio and the city I live in just recently notified me that there was an error with my city tax return from 1997. They also said that they have imposed penalties and interest. My $400 mistake has now turned into a $6,000 mistake and the city is unwilling to deal with me. I have no problem with correcting this error but I find it very sneaky that a city can go back 8 years and add on interest for an error they didn't catch until 8 years later also. Can someone point me to any laws that may help me or shed some light on how the city can legally do this?

 

[Trowe]

Follow up

I forgot to mention that another city had control of collecting the taxes, doing audits, etc. It was not until this year that my city took control of the books and they are essentially auditing everyone. The city's bylaws state that they can not do an audit after 3 years of the filing. This is an iffy situation since they were not in charge of the books all these years.

 

[Snipes5]

Hire a professional in your area. Possibly an attorney.

Snipes