Lee H. Mann
Gone But Not Forgotten
I have had many memorable Christmas stories in my life like getting fired on Christmas Eve to missing the Bank by 5 minutes to do Christmas Shopping because I was replacing a starter on somebody’s truck.
A very unfunny thing happened when I opened my company mail on Saturday. There was a notice from the West Virginia Department of Sales and Use Tax claiming I was in default for $6,009.00 in unpaid sales tax and, that according to law, they were in the process of filing a lien that then, according to law, could be collected by the US Treasury Department, a Federal Agency. I was ill and think I will be sick all next week.
I couldn’t sleep all weekend thinking about it.
Did I in fact owe that amount ?
Could I have made that big of a mistake ?
Where was I going to get that kind of money ? Especially since I tallied up my sales receipts for November 2014 to be $1,497.00.
So, first thing Monday morning with a calm demeanor, I gathered up my Sales Tax information and went to the West Virginia Commission on Taxation and asked WHY I had received this notice.
“You were unaware of this before ?” she asked.
“No.” I responded.
After checking my account, and spending 15 minutes looking over whatever she was looking at, she printed a new form. She never said a word while shuffling the papers on the desk. She presented the new form and said “Your tax bill is $21.20.”
“What happened ?” I asked.
“There was a clear ENTRY ERROR overstating your sales by $100,000.00 for that month.” She said.
“Who made this $100,000.00 sales increase, because I could use a salesman like that.” I asked jokingly.
“I guess I could call this my Christmas present from West Virginia ?” I said reaching for humor.
SILENCE........crickets.......
The main point here was there was no “I am sorry for the inconvenience” or any admittance to a mistake made and had I not taken the action I did, they may have filed a lien or filed suit to reclaim the supposed debt.
One of the Universal Truths is GOVERNMENT DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES.
A very unfunny thing happened when I opened my company mail on Saturday. There was a notice from the West Virginia Department of Sales and Use Tax claiming I was in default for $6,009.00 in unpaid sales tax and, that according to law, they were in the process of filing a lien that then, according to law, could be collected by the US Treasury Department, a Federal Agency. I was ill and think I will be sick all next week.
I couldn’t sleep all weekend thinking about it.
Did I in fact owe that amount ?
Could I have made that big of a mistake ?
Where was I going to get that kind of money ? Especially since I tallied up my sales receipts for November 2014 to be $1,497.00.
So, first thing Monday morning with a calm demeanor, I gathered up my Sales Tax information and went to the West Virginia Commission on Taxation and asked WHY I had received this notice.
“You were unaware of this before ?” she asked.
“No.” I responded.
After checking my account, and spending 15 minutes looking over whatever she was looking at, she printed a new form. She never said a word while shuffling the papers on the desk. She presented the new form and said “Your tax bill is $21.20.”
“What happened ?” I asked.
“There was a clear ENTRY ERROR overstating your sales by $100,000.00 for that month.” She said.
“Who made this $100,000.00 sales increase, because I could use a salesman like that.” I asked jokingly.
“I guess I could call this my Christmas present from West Virginia ?” I said reaching for humor.
SILENCE........crickets.......
The main point here was there was no “I am sorry for the inconvenience” or any admittance to a mistake made and had I not taken the action I did, they may have filed a lien or filed suit to reclaim the supposed debt.
One of the Universal Truths is GOVERNMENT DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES.