U
Uninformed in M
Guest
What is the name of your state? MD
I recently received a letter from the Dept. of the Treasury, Financial Management Service stating the my federal tax refund for the previous tax year was forwarded to the State of Maryland in accordance with a notice that was sent to me explaining the amount and type of debt I owe. I received no such notice. After contacting the Maryland Comptroller of the Treasury Compliance Division, I was told that this pertained to state tax owed by me to the state of Maryland for 2001. I did not move to Maryland until the summer of 2002. I sent the Maryland office copies of my 2001 tax statements that I filed in my legal state of residence at that time. They accepted this as proof that they were in error and that they were notifying the Collection Section to stop all collection activity. I e-mailed that I was concerned about my credit being effected, as I had no idea how long this process had been going on, and how far it had gotten (I still had received no notification or accounting of the so-called debt ). When I got a reply, I was told that the garnishment process was underway and that they sent a letter to my employer to stop this process. I have been working with the payroll office on my end, but I work for the Federal government, so it’s out of reach from my end. When I asked how this all happened, I was told that an address list was sent to Maryland from the feds listing my address as Maryland (which was correct as of the summer of 2002) so instead of checking on my previous status, they automatically assumed that I had not filed the appropriate state tax return. They also told me that this wasn’t caught because of the illegible social security number on my 2002 tax form (which isn’t true, the copy I have is perfectly legible, as attested to by co-workers). My question is what recourse do I have if they are unable to stop the garnishment process before the next pay cycle starts and I can’t pay bills on time. Also, how do I know that this hasn’t already affected my credit rating, and what do I do if it does?
I recently received a letter from the Dept. of the Treasury, Financial Management Service stating the my federal tax refund for the previous tax year was forwarded to the State of Maryland in accordance with a notice that was sent to me explaining the amount and type of debt I owe. I received no such notice. After contacting the Maryland Comptroller of the Treasury Compliance Division, I was told that this pertained to state tax owed by me to the state of Maryland for 2001. I did not move to Maryland until the summer of 2002. I sent the Maryland office copies of my 2001 tax statements that I filed in my legal state of residence at that time. They accepted this as proof that they were in error and that they were notifying the Collection Section to stop all collection activity. I e-mailed that I was concerned about my credit being effected, as I had no idea how long this process had been going on, and how far it had gotten (I still had received no notification or accounting of the so-called debt ). When I got a reply, I was told that the garnishment process was underway and that they sent a letter to my employer to stop this process. I have been working with the payroll office on my end, but I work for the Federal government, so it’s out of reach from my end. When I asked how this all happened, I was told that an address list was sent to Maryland from the feds listing my address as Maryland (which was correct as of the summer of 2002) so instead of checking on my previous status, they automatically assumed that I had not filed the appropriate state tax return. They also told me that this wasn’t caught because of the illegible social security number on my 2002 tax form (which isn’t true, the copy I have is perfectly legible, as attested to by co-workers). My question is what recourse do I have if they are unable to stop the garnishment process before the next pay cycle starts and I can’t pay bills on time. Also, how do I know that this hasn’t already affected my credit rating, and what do I do if it does?