more tax madness....

[mike_c]

This is just CRAZY! Last week I got a letter from a company called "United Consumers, Inc" in Woodbridge VA. It looked somehow "official" so I thought WTF and opened it. Turns out United Consumers is a collection agency, and the letter was a demand for a little more than $2000. After my initial shock I read it in more detail and lo and behold, the "creditor" that wants my money is the Virgina Department of Taxation.

I called the company to explain that there must be some mistake-- I haven't lived in Virginia for 20 years. A nice bill collector explained that indeed, the VDT has recalculated my 1988 (!!!) state income tax return and decided that I underpaid my state taxes by a couple of hundred bucks-- twenty years ago-- and that twenty years of interest amounts to about $2K.

I've disputed it-- first because it's hard to believe I actually owed them more than they withheld-- I was a full-time college student in 1988 and had very little income (only a work/study stipend and a summer job at a printing company, IIRC). Needless to say, I don't have records anymore. I've asked the collections company to substantiate the original debt, but HOLY FUCK-ME-IN-THE-ASS, BATMAN!-- is Virginia getting a bit desperate for cash, or what? They went back to my last tax return-- twenty years old-- looking for an error! I left Virginia the following year and never went back, but of course I've been pretty easy to find since I've paid federal and state taxes every year since, and the VDT has never contacted me about owing taxes before this!

[uppityperson]

1. I'd call it a scam until I contacted the State tax people directly.

Don't talk to that company but go directly to the source, contact VDT directly. IF it is real, the collection company probably can't do anything, I'd double check directly with VDT first and get info from them. This sounds very odd.

[mike_c]

2. a couple of friends have suggested the same thing, i.e. a scam....

I'll wait and see what the documents they send, then contact VDT before I send anything further. Oh, and the fine print on their dunning letter says that if I send any payment, that will constitute permission to electronically debit my bank account for the full amount!

[uppityperson]

5. Don't contact them at all, call VDT Mon. If it is a scam, they need to know.

If it is a scam, bet more people are getting this also and VDT'd be happy to know about them. It would be good to know for sure and no, don't send that company any money or have any other communication until you talk to VDT. Save all correspondence from them, including names of whom you talked to and when, etc.

I really hate scammers.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. I agree. No WAY would I listen to some fucking debt collector.

Further, debt gets turned over to vipers for collection when the debtor is very delinquent and unwilling to pay. If VA just figured out you owe them from TWENTY years ago, that's really a 'current' debt and contact would be from the commonwealth to start with ..... and maybe in a few more YEARS it would go to a viper.

I'm tell them to shit in their hat and pull it over their ears.

[Captain Angry]

4. Call the VDT.

There are debt collection agencies that will buy those records, recalculate them and then buy the debt so they can collect.

It might be true. Don't blow it off.

And yes, all states are desperate for cash, but collection agencies make their money this way.

[uppityperson]

6. IF he/she owes VDT, could pay them off directly, rather than all the extra

added "fees", if this were a real thing, not a scam?

[Captain Angry]

8. Probably not. If the VDT resold the debt, the VDT has been paid.

And the collection agency now would own it. They are probably who has calculated the huge late fees.

So, I would just find out if it's true, get everything faxed in, and start finding out when the VDT found out that the payment wasn't correct.

Get them to provide documentation that they actually attempted to make contact before the debt was resold, etc.

And, if mike_c hasn't done it yet, he should get his free credit reports to see if anybody's been doing a little looking around.

[uppityperson]

9. That makes sense. Still, start with vdt, go from there. Agree about credit report.

See who else has gotten one recently.

[DCKit]

7. That's not crazy, it's terrifying. n/t

[bluebellbaby]

10. I wouldn't contact either the collector or the State, here's why

I do not know VA laws, but in NY there is a statute of limitations...5 or 7 years...and if the statute has been reached...the State is S.O.L.

As for the collecter...really don't contact them...and don't ask for any bill...

I did just such a thing 8 yrs ago for a bill that was 15 yrs old...and because I contacted the company...the statute of limitations was "re-set"...meaning they could then start collection proceedings against me...15 years later and almost double the statute of limitations..it finally ended up where I had no choice but to file bankruptcy...


SO...I WOULD NOT CONTACT EITHER ONE...CONTACT AN ATTORNEY!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

[bpeale]

11. does anyone happen to know what the SOL is for Virginia?

i got something similar for supposed taxes owed to the state of virginia 17 years ago!!! we received it in the mail last week & was unsure of what exactly to do about the letter. the amount is $1200+