Taxes (not what you think!)

[PTjvs]

So, yesterday my wife & I come home to a rather official looking document from the city where we live (small city in Ohio). It's from the city tax office & states that unless we immediately bring them our tax information for the duration of the time we've lived there (5 years or so), we'll be subject to jail time/fees, etc. So my wife takes in all the required documents & today we get a call stating that, on a short term temp job through Manpower 4 years ago, Manpower didn't deduct any local taxes from my wages & that, with fees & late penalties, I now owe the city tax office $575 or something.

Obviously I'm not used to thinking in terms of local taxes, and assuming this is true (I'll check my W-2 when I get home tonight), I'm sure I just assumed that all local taxes were handled appropriately through payroll of the places I've worked. At this point, most of what I "owe" is late fees, should/am I truly obligated to pay these, or do I have some recourse?

jvs

[Shajen]

I'm not a laywer, but I play one on TV.

I'd recommend you contact a lawyer, (free consultation or something) and see if you have any recourse against the folks at Manpower. Chances are, you won't, because you probably signed a document stating they only paid federal taxes or something.

[Indiana]

I hate taxes. Thank god for republicans.

Indy

[arod15]

Talk to a CPA but you have little recourse....

[cdxx]

go to a tax attorney or HR block. HR will probably refer you to someone. either way it may not be much less than $575...

in many states, local taxes are paid with your state tax return and are not deducted from payroll. if only a few counties have it, it's probably a supplemental form. you really have to watch for that kind of thing. unless $575 supports your crack habit, it's probably good checking how much an attorney would cost, and if it's more, paying the back taxes.

[PTjvs]

[ QUOTE ]
go to a tax attorney or HR block. HR will probably refer you to someone. either way it may not be much less than $575...

in many states, local taxes are paid with your state tax return and are not deducted from payroll. if only a few counties have it, it's probably a supplemental form. you really have to watch for that kind of thing. unless $575 supports your crack habit, it's probably good checking how much an attorney would cost, and if it's more, paying the back taxes.

[/ QUOTE ]

$575 isn't going to kill me, I'm mostly just pissed off at owing $75 in taxes or whatever & $500 in late fees. I won't know the exact breakdown until I get home tonight to review the paperwork, but this wasn't a very long temp job, so I'm positive I'm getting absolutely reamed on late charges.

[Pyromaniac]

weird deja vu--I knew I'd read something like this lately. Do you live here?

ohio tax collectors (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051017/ap_on_fe_st/tax_returns_1)

same story w/different details (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46833)

Sounds like Ohio has found a new source of local revenue...