State Tax Lien

[JakobOhio]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OHIO and PA

I pulled my credit report today and it shows a lien from state of Ohio for state income tax in the 4500 dollar range. I am not sure what my next step is going to be.
I remember exactly what this is from - I had won a significant amount of money at a casino in 2012. I had them with hold taxes on the spot (federal and state).
The year that I won it I was still technically an Ohio resident, but living in PA. When I filled out my tax form, I followed all the steps and reported all my W-2's including the information from the WG form and I am pretty positive the money was paid out to the state of PA. (I am really not sure exactly how it was filed to be honest). The casino took my license information for the payout and it was my ohio license

I had gotten a letter from the state early last year and spoke with a representative of Ohio who stated they did not receive any of that money. I explained that it was pre taken out at the casino for that portion and he told me that was fine, and it was just most likely a paperwork mix up. I completely forgot about the situation until today. How would I go to get the information I need, or am I really screwed now this is a judgement. I never received any type of paperwork or any type of court that I was aware of. I never signed for anything.

What should I do?

 

[davew128]

What should I do?

Get a copy of the W2-G and proceed accordingly...

 

[derekbrian]

Tax Lien

You must have some proof with you on the basis of which you can clear your doubt. For this purpose you have to visit local office of IRS and make them clear on the basis of whatever proof you have in your custody. If you do not have any proof, you can contact to any professional tax lawyer, who by visiting IRS office makes all the picture clear.

 

[davew128]

You must have some proof with you on the basis of which you can clear your doubt. For this purpose you have to visit local office of IRS and make them clear on the basis of whatever proof you have in your custody. If you do not have any proof, you can contact to any professional tax lawyer, who by visiting IRS office makes all the picture clear.

Hey troll, how is going to an IRS office going to help with a STATE tax lien?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? OHIO and PA

I pulled my credit report today and it shows a lien from state of Ohio for state income tax in the 4500 dollar range. I am not sure what my next step is going to be.
I remember exactly what this is from - I had won a significant amount of money at a casino in 2012. I had them with hold taxes on the spot (federal and state).
The year that I won it I was still technically an Ohio resident, but living in PA. When I filled out my tax form, I followed all the steps and reported all my W-2's including the information from the WG form and I am pretty positive the money was paid out to the state of PA. (I am really not sure exactly how it was filed to be honest). The casino took my license information for the payout and it was my ohio license

I had gotten a letter from the state early last year and spoke with a representative of Ohio who stated they did not receive any of that money. I explained that it was pre taken out at the casino for that portion and he told me that was fine, and it was just most likely a paperwork mix up. I completely forgot about the situation until today. How would I go to get the information I need, or am I really screwed now this is a judgement. I never received any type of paperwork or any type of court that I was aware of. I never signed for anything.

What should I do?

You need a copy of that W2G and then you need to actually file an Ohio state return for that year including that income. That is the only way to resolve the issue.

 

[JakobOhio]

You need a copy of that W2G and then you need to actually file an Ohio state return for that year including that income. That is the only way to resolve the issue.

So here is a little update.

Working through the attorney generals office, the IRS, the SSA, and numerous other agencies, I still do not have a clear resolution.

Here are the facts so far. I think I just need to drop it, cause a lawyer would cost me more money

1) Lived in 2011 in PA. Lived there the entire year.
2) I filed a PA state tax return in additional to the federal return.
3) I won money at the casino which gave me a w-2g. At the time I won at the casino, I had not changed my ID over, so everything was sent to OHIO.
4) I received a tax lien for the taxes I did not "pay"

Here is what I provided them so far

1) Tax return from the state of PA. I ordered this and it was sent
2) w-2g from the Casino showing I paid taxes
3) W-2 transcript from the SSA (they stated they do not have a w-2 on file from that year)
4) IRS tax transcript from 2011 for my federal tax return.

ALL OF MY TAX FILING DOCUMENTS SHOW MY PA ADDRESS ON THEM.

The state of Ohio still says this is not enough. They advised me that filing a tax return in a state where I claim no residency or income from can be a crime. They told me they do not recommend me filing a return from that year.

I spoke with the attorney generals office today and the special lawyer on the case has told me that if they do not accept my w-2 transcript from the SSA, then I will not receive any monetary amount back and I will just have to deal with paying the tax lien.

With the federal return that was seized this year the tax lien will be paid off.

However, I paid taxes in the state of PA, so this seems like double dipping to the extreme.

My questions are

1) will it be illegal for me to file a return. the IRS and state tax department cannot confirm if this was accurate information given to me by the special lawyer in charge of the case

2) Do i need to hire a lawyer? The amount that has been seized from me is over 4500 dollars. Will I spend more on a lawyer? I know that cost can vary, but im not even sure if they will give a free consultation

3) do I have any claim for any type of damages


Here is my layman opinion on what happened.

All my taxes were paid to the state of PA, since that is where I lived and where I received my income.

The casino sent my info to the state of OHIO (inaccurately? not sure).

When I filed my taxes with PA, they took the taxes that were paid by the casino from the state of ohio and INCLUDED them as part of my state return

OHIO wants me to pay that money, when in fact PA (or someone) has it.

 

[LdiJ]

So here is a little update.

Working through the attorney generals office, the IRS, the SSA, and numerous other agencies, I still do not have a clear resolution.

Here are the facts so far. I think I just need to drop it, cause a lawyer would cost me more money

1) Lived in 2011 in PA. Lived there the entire year.
2) I filed a PA state tax return in additional to the federal return.
3) I won money at the casino which gave me a w-2g. At the time I won at the casino, I had not changed my ID over, so everything was sent to OHIO.
4) I received a tax lien for the taxes I did not "pay"

Here is what I provided them so far

1) Tax return from the state of PA. I ordered this and it was sent
2) w-2g from the Casino showing I paid taxes
3) W-2 transcript from the SSA (they stated they do not have a w-2 on file from that year)
4) IRS tax transcript from 2011 for my federal tax return.

ALL OF MY TAX FILING DOCUMENTS SHOW MY PA ADDRESS ON THEM.

The state of Ohio still says this is not enough. They advised me that filing a tax return in a state where I claim no residency or income from can be a crime. They told me they do not recommend me filing a return from that year.

I spoke with the attorney generals office today and the special lawyer on the case has told me that if they do not accept my w-2 transcript from the SSA, then I will not receive any monetary amount back and I will just have to deal with paying the tax lien.

With the federal return that was seized this year the tax lien will be paid off.

However, I paid taxes in the state of PA, so this seems like double dipping to the extreme.

My questions are

1) will it be illegal for me to file a return. the IRS and state tax department cannot confirm if this was accurate information given to me by the special lawyer in charge of the case

2) Do i need to hire a lawyer? The amount that has been seized from me is over 4500 dollars. Will I spend more on a lawyer? I know that cost can vary, but im not even sure if they will give a free consultation

3) do I have any claim for any type of damages


Here is my layman opinion on what happened.

All my taxes were paid to the state of PA, since that is where I lived and where I received my income.

The casino sent my info to the state of OHIO (inaccurately? not sure).

When I filed my taxes with PA, they took the taxes that were paid by the casino from the state of ohio and INCLUDED them as part of my state return

OHIO wants me to pay that money, when in fact PA (or someone) has it.

What you SHOULD have done back when you originally filed, was that you should have filed a resident return for PA (which you did) and a non-resident return for Ohio to cover the Casino winnings.

Ohio may be attempting to claim that you were an Ohio resident at the time, because you had an Ohio driver's license. Most states these days will claim you as a resident for tax purposes if one of the following happens, 1) You have a driver's license for that state, 2) You have a car registered in that state, 3) You are registered to vote in that state, or 4) You have a homestead credit on your property taxes on a home in that state.

You need an Ohio tax professional to help you fix this.

 

[JakobOhio]

What you SHOULD have done back when you originally filed, was that you should have filed a resident return for PA (which you did) and a non-resident return for Ohio to cover the Casino winnings.

Ohio may be attempting to claim that you were an Ohio resident at the time, because you had an Ohio driver's license. Most states these days will claim you as a resident for tax purposes if one of the following happens, 1) You have a driver's license for that state, 2) You have a car registered in that state, 3) You are registered to vote in that state, or 4) You have a homestead credit on your property taxes on a home in that state.

You need an Ohio tax professional to help you fix this.

Thanks, I will file for that.

Also, this is not over the casino winnings. From what I can gather, this is based on them saying my work income was in the state of ohio, even though I provided them the SSA and IRS transcript that showed my PA address.

I will also reach out to a tax professional, I should have done it a long time ago, but every quote i got would have cost me MORE than what the return was.

So, will PA be required to give OH the money they received from the casino as taxes?

I can't imagine both states get to double dip

 

[Zigner]

I will also reach out to a tax professional, I should have done it a long time ago, but every quote i got would have cost me MORE than what the return was.

You're crazy to have spent this amount of time and energy over a few hundred dollars that has been dogging you. You would have been much better off paying it a year ago and being done with it.

Really.

 

[JakobOhio]

You're crazy to have spent this amount of time and energy over a few hundred dollars that has been dogging you. You would have been much better off paying it a year ago and being done with it.

Really.

you're right, but 4500 dollars was not an insignificant amount. Overall, I wish i could have just not spent the hours on this, but you live and you learn.

An attorney is going to cost me 3500 just in retainer, so I will let them take this return this year, that will leave me a small balance of a few hundred.

Just upsetting that I felt I did everything correct (paid taxes, etc) and because some computer decided that I owe, no one is able to help me. That's government

 

[Zigner]

you're right, but 4500 dollars was not an insignificant amount. Overall, I wish i could have just not spent the hours on this, but you live and you learn.

An attorney is going to cost me 3500 just in retainer, so I will let them take this return this year, that will leave me a small balance of a few hundred.

Just upsetting that I felt I did everything correct (paid taxes, etc) and because some computer decided that I owe, no one is able to help me. That's government

I see what you're saying. LdiJ didn't recommend an attorney. I based my earlier statement on your statement that it would cost more to hire somebody to unravel this than the amount they say you owe. I didn't realize (for some reason) that this was over $4k. You should be able to hire a tax pro (not an attorney) for far less than that.

 

[justalayman]

Just upsetting that I felt I did everything correct (paid taxes, etc) and because some computer decided that I owe, no one is able to help me. That's government

the one you should be upset with is yourself. Failing to obtain a PA license and maintain your Ohio license was a crime. The fact you retained your Ohio license is the underlying cause of all of your problems. That makes it all your fault.

At this point if the debt will be settled with payment of only a couple hundred dollars it would be most financially prudent to pay off the debt and let it go. Given this all took place 6 years ago it is likely you can’t do anything about it now even if you were willing to spend the money to argue the point.

 

[JakobOhio]

the one you should be upset with is yourself. Failing to obtain a PA license and maintain your Ohio license was a crime. The fact you retained your Ohio license is the underlying cause of all of your problems. That makes it all your fault.

At this point if the debt will be settled with payment of only a couple hundred dollars it would be most financially prudent to pay off the debt and let it go. Given this all took place 6 years ago it is likely you can’t do anything about it now even if you were willing to spend the money to argue the point.

well , according to the BMV, i had 60 days to get my license,

which i did, but that isn't the point, right.. you just wanted to chime in and accuse someone of a crime, when in fact I did not

"You have 60 days to transfer your out-of-state license in person after establishing Pennsylvania residency. Make sure to bring proof of identity, residency, and SSN. You must FIRST have your new PA license in order to title and register your car in the state. "

 

[justalayman]

well , according to the BMV, i had 60 days to get my license,

That you do and if you did so, great. You hadn’t made that clear when posting. My apologies for jumping to that conclusion.

The casino sent my info to the state of OHIO (inaccurately? not sure).

. If you provided them with proof of Ohio residency then the the casino rightfully sent your info to Ohio. Your license was the only thing you provided (I presume) that proved residence. They will treat you as an Ohio resident if you essentially prove you’re an Ohio resident.

So, will PA be required to give OH the money they received from the casino as taxes?

No. Not only has too much time transpired for any correction, PA does tax the winnings of non-residents as well as residents winnings.

Have you checked to see if you can even file a return (in Ohio) for tax year 2011? If it has exceeded the time limit, simply put, its too late to do anythng about it now.
If you file an Ohio return you’ll have to prove you were not an Ohio resident in 2011. Can you do that?

 

[JakobOhio]

in a surprising twist, i just received a call from a supervisor of the ohio department of tax compliance division. they finally got to my stuff and found they made the error. They are currently refunding my my state of Ohio "offset" (which i will receive in 22 business days). The federal offset is being handled by the attorney generals office, which can take up to 8 months.

I am not sure if I can use this to get the tax lien removed from my credit report or not. I sure hope so