Collecting Old Tax Bills

Mind if I ask how they are pursuing old tax bills with this provision in the US Constitution?

If the statue of limitations is 7 years for civilian debts then how can the state and local governments have a 15 year limitation?

Sounds Unconstitutional to me.

Article 4 Section 2 paragraph 1.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

State laws are supposed to be uniform. A 15 year limitation is not uniform.

Ntech wrote:

Mind if I ask how they are pursuing old tax bills with this provision in the US Constitution?
If the statue of limitations is 7 years for civilian debts then how can the state and local governments have a 15 year limitation?
Sounds Unconstitutional to me.
Article 4 Section 2 paragraph 1.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
State laws are supposed to be uniform. A 15 year limitation is not uniform.

Wait..Local tax bills are governed under the US constitution? If you check each state, you will find the statute of limitations are all different. Reason: it does not fall under the US constitution

Could the annual amount of interest charged be one of the factors in not "FINDING" a delinquent taxpayer?

How about the limited time that the United States Postal Service forwards mail?

I'll have to call George and fill him in on these topics.

You go to help the guy out to avoid paying $357, and it ends up he owes even more!?!

Very very funny.

What's funnier is how easy it was to prove when he actually did register the car in NJ, and disprove that he lied to you.

It is odd the towns have "tax collectors" who are paid to "collect" yet sit on past due bills and make no effort at all to actually "collect". The same is true of real property bills where the official tax "collector" farms out the debt to third party firms, who then actually do a little work to find the people. Especially the big cities should do a much better job of a professional and diligent effort to collect.

I had a very similar expeience with the Town of West Hartford (but with even more onerous $'s consequences). I am convinced there was absoutely no attempt to contact me until the penalites became outrageous. Among other things USPS will forward most mail for up to one year. So, it would have been easy to contact me much eartlier if they had even tried. The Town has no record evidencing they sent a second notice. Consequently, I believe the various governmental entities intentionaly let these obligations fall into lengthy arrears in order to increase the amount collected by virtue of the penalties imposed (and your state legislators supported the scam by passing legislation enabling collection enforcement years after the period that banks are required to keep records).The result is equivalent to usury a prohibited practice for non-governmental institutions.

Dick Allison
Ridgway, Colorado
rwa@hccm.com

There is now legislation pending in the CT General Assembly to change the law to prevent these abusive practices.

Pay the bill when it shows up, and you have none of these problems. Everybody complains if their street isn't plowed, but municipal services (including tax collection) aren't free

what happens when the bill doesn't show up for 14 years, and you never knew there was a bill? What happens after 15 years Can you just ignore it?

I think it comes down to being personally responsibility for your own understanding of the laws of the area you live in. Ignorance of the laws in the state you live in can cause problems like this. If you know a tax is due on motor vehicles when you live in a state, learn about when they are due, who to pay, how they are determined. A simple visit to your local town office can teach you those things. Also, if you don't like the laws then take part in trying to change those laws. Finally, if you are going through a time of change - moving, name change, new car etc....be extra careful to cover all your basis when it comes to any monetary obligations.
What volume of a tax base are these taxes anyway? 1% or less? Is it really worth all the effort to change the rules when 99% of the folks get it right and follow the laws? Why do we want to change the laws for the few that don't get it right? Who are we really protecting? Special interest groups....?
The folks are supposed to change their addres with the DMV within 48 hours - if people do that - then guess what - more bills would get to their destination.
A concerned taxpayer from Columbia, CT

wow. ten postings and nobody's mentioned the word "dinardo" yet.

How are you supposed to know all the laws in a state? Who knows that you have to contact the dmv within 48 hrs of moving? I've never heard of that. Especially 14 years ago - pre internet and your just out of college. You only know that you have to re-register your car in the new state, and if no .one EVER says anything about it in the new state, you have no way of knowing! Why can't CT forward mail to a new state, why do they have to wait 14 years and send a collection agency after you for the $? I don't even know if it is a real collection agency, as they won't send you a copy of the bill, or breakdown of the bill, or a reciept for anything. This sounds like a scam to me!!! It doesn't feel right

oldcar wrote:

How are you supposed to know all the laws in a state? Who knows that you have to contact the dmv within 48 hrs of moving? I've never heard of that.

It's stated in fine print on the back of your CT driver's license.

spread- um wide

Any time someone cheats on their taxes we all have to pay. Moving is no excuse, chase them forever and collect.

Didn't have a CT drivers license, and hey look I'm paying now , but you can't pay what you don't know about- and it would be nice to see the paper work on all of this... that's all I'm saying

The suggestion that the tax collectors do not send out tax bills or make any attempt to collect the taxes is totally absurd. Most towns have a collection rate of 97-99% within a year of when the tax became due.

If the postal service does not forward mail, that is not the fault of the tax collector. The taxes are billed (mailed) and the unpaid taxes are re-billed over and over and over again. But, if the address on the tax bill is not good, or if the post office does not deliver or forward the bill, don't blame the tax collector.

I don't know what kind of paperwork you are looking for, but the town should be able to provide you with the vehicle information, tax amount information and from what year the tax was billed.

My suggestion for anyone moving in to Connecticut or even from one town to another would be for them to make a visit to their town hall and ask questions. Find out if there are any local ordinances they need to know about regarding parking, or information about taxes, dog licenses, voter registrations, veteran's exemptions, or where the local library might be. If you are too busy for that, go on line. Most towns these days have web sites. Get informed about where you live and you might very well avoid problems down the road.

Just Pay wrote:

Pay the bill when it shows up, and you have none of these problems. Everybody complains if their street isn't plowed, but municipal services (including tax collection) aren't free

AMEN!!!

I too am a "victim" of a 14 year old tax bill. My biggest frustration with the process is similar to others who posted. I have a pretty unique name, have had the same cell phone number for the past 10 years and yet, it took 14 years to finally get a bill from the collection agency. I have always paid my bills on time and have excellent credit. Can I prove that I paid the bill? I have tried going back through bank records, etc. With no success.

I did invoke my federal right to have the collection agency validate the debt with the city, this occurred in January, and I have not yet heard a response from the collection agency. I had to do this in writing within 30 days of receiving the collection notice, but here we are almost 4 months later and I not heard back from the collection agency.

PFUCONN wrote:

I too am a "victim" of a 14 year old tax bill. My biggest frustration with the process is similar to others who posted. I have a pretty unique name, have had the same cell phone number for the past 10 years and yet, it took 14 years to finally get a bill from the collection agency. I have always paid my bills on time and have excellent credit. Can I prove that I paid the bill? I have tried going back through bank records, etc. With no success.
I did invoke my federal right to have the collection agency validate the debt with the city, this occurred in January, and I have not yet heard a response from the collection agency. I had to do this in writing within 30 days of receiving the collection notice, but here we are almost 4 months later and I not heard back from the collection agency.

How can you be a victom of an unpaid tax bill? When you cheat the systen who do you think pays, it is the honest people. Be an adult, pay up and quit whinning.