Acknowledgement of Response from VA Dept of Taxation

In January I finally got a response from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Taxation. Back in March of 2009 I had received a phone call out of the blue from Diversified Collections Services (a collections agency) indicating I owed $11,033 for back taxes not paid in 2003-2006 despite the fact that I have not lived in Virginia since 2001.

It had been a very trying experience including multiple aggressive collections calls at workplace, collections letters, and multiple verbal and written exchanges with the VA Dept of Taxation and DCS over a period of nearly 2 years. As a result I have a much stronger appreciation for the pain that people go through with collections (especially erroneous collections) and relieved that it appears to be over despite not getting an acknowledgment of the error made by the VA Dept of Taxation.

Here is the last letter I received:

January 3, 2011

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent response to our inquiry about your Virginia individual income tax return.

The information you supplied has resolved our questions and no further action will be necessary.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please call us at (804) 786-2378, or write to [TAX Examiner's Name], Tax Examiner Senior, Office of Customer Relations, Compliance Section, RAP Unit, P.O. Box 5610, Richmond, VA 23220-0610.

I love how the erroneous tax debt sent to a collections agency is described as an "inquiry" in this letter from the VA Dept of Taxation. At this point I am just glad this is over with.

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Comments (4)

Wow is all I can say. It took two years for the state to accept that they are wrong... and they do so with that letter?

The good thing is that it is resolved, but they could have at least admitted the mistake they made and the grief they caused you for TWO years!

Posted by Dave @ Money In The 20s | March 30, 2011 9:47 AM

What a nightmare!

Posted by Amanda L Grossman | March 30, 2011 4:17 PM

Wouldn't it be interesting to see how much you could make off of a pain and suffering suit for all the emotional distress and humiliation they've caused you over the last two years?

Posted by Joe | March 30, 2011 6:41 PM

This is why I check my credit once a year, regardless. I've found errors before and had it fixed.

Posted by CK-ATL | March 31, 2011 8:54 AM