Ha! They picked the WRONG little old lady!
Massachusetts Dept. of Revenue is evil. I mean it, they are reprehensible. I've dealt with state taxing authorities from many states before, but Massachusetts is special, in a sociopathic sort of way. For example, a few years ago they started sending bills to everyone who moved into Massachusetts for the three years BEFORE they moved to Massachusetts, just on the off chance that the people were actually Massachusetts residents before who forgot to file.
Then there's the special thing they do with non-filers: they know who is a MA resident because they grab the W-2 data from the social security administration. But, guess what? The social security adminsitration doesn't track how much was paid in state taxes. So MA will do up a proforma bill and send it saying you owe $2,000 and completely fail to mention that you had $2300 withheld at your job and are actually due a refund if you get off your ass and take your return to an accountant to file. Instead, they scare people into paying $2,000 plus penalties and interest. Also, they do this right AFTER the statute of limitations expires on getting refunds to make sure that anyone who DOES have old copies of their W-2s showing MA withholding won't be able to receive their refunds.
Then they did a thing where they sent everyone who declared items on customs declarations a "use tax" bill for the sales tax they hadn't paid MA on the stuff they were bringing into the country. Nevermind that neither gifts nor inheritances are subject to "use tax", they just did it on spec, figuring some people would get the scary bills and pay up.
Two years ago they started denying everyone who files a schedule C the state portion of their Earned Income Credit unless they submit to a comprehensive audit of their self-employed business. The people who are getting Earned Income Credit are by their nature poor and cannot afford a CPA to represent them in comprehensive business audits. I taught my clients how to do it themselves and they all won. But the MA DOR trumpeted far and wide how much money they made on these audits from people who didn't respond. "See how fraudulent they must have been?" they say. The audit letters were incomprehensible the first time I saw them, and I am a CPA tax accountant.
Today a little old lady came in with a really scary letter. She makes no money and lives in an apartment she can't afford. Massachusetts has a sweet little program called "The Senior Circuit Breaker Credit" to give cash back to poor old people who can no longer afford their rent or real estate taxes because their fixed incomes just don't keep up. It's terribly under-utilized because most people that poor don't do the complex MA tax return, although every bus stop and food pantry is plastered with posters trying to reach out to the elderly poor to tell them about it.
The letter was written in about a four point font. It is two pages long. It said she had been selected for an assessment. It didn't say what that meant or how much money was involved, but told her to do a few things to prove she was entitled to the measely $197 circuit breaker credit I had gotten for her. The things it told her to do would require the services of a CPA.
Those bastards. I handled the audit with alacrity and dispatched the packet just now. Fucking assholes, targeting the elderly poor now. I bet they'll be crowing about how few people responded to the audits (and hence lost the credit.) Not MY clients, they don't.
Then there's the special thing they do with non-filers: they know who is a MA resident because they grab the W-2 data from the social security administration. But, guess what? The social security adminsitration doesn't track how much was paid in state taxes. So MA will do up a proforma bill and send it saying you owe $2,000 and completely fail to mention that you had $2300 withheld at your job and are actually due a refund if you get off your ass and take your return to an accountant to file. Instead, they scare people into paying $2,000 plus penalties and interest. Also, they do this right AFTER the statute of limitations expires on getting refunds to make sure that anyone who DOES have old copies of their W-2s showing MA withholding won't be able to receive their refunds.
Then they did a thing where they sent everyone who declared items on customs declarations a "use tax" bill for the sales tax they hadn't paid MA on the stuff they were bringing into the country. Nevermind that neither gifts nor inheritances are subject to "use tax", they just did it on spec, figuring some people would get the scary bills and pay up.
Two years ago they started denying everyone who files a schedule C the state portion of their Earned Income Credit unless they submit to a comprehensive audit of their self-employed business. The people who are getting Earned Income Credit are by their nature poor and cannot afford a CPA to represent them in comprehensive business audits. I taught my clients how to do it themselves and they all won. But the MA DOR trumpeted far and wide how much money they made on these audits from people who didn't respond. "See how fraudulent they must have been?" they say. The audit letters were incomprehensible the first time I saw them, and I am a CPA tax accountant.
Today a little old lady came in with a really scary letter. She makes no money and lives in an apartment she can't afford. Massachusetts has a sweet little program called "The Senior Circuit Breaker Credit" to give cash back to poor old people who can no longer afford their rent or real estate taxes because their fixed incomes just don't keep up. It's terribly under-utilized because most people that poor don't do the complex MA tax return, although every bus stop and food pantry is plastered with posters trying to reach out to the elderly poor to tell them about it.
The letter was written in about a four point font. It is two pages long. It said she had been selected for an assessment. It didn't say what that meant or how much money was involved, but told her to do a few things to prove she was entitled to the measely $197 circuit breaker credit I had gotten for her. The things it told her to do would require the services of a CPA.
Those bastards. I handled the audit with alacrity and dispatched the packet just now. Fucking assholes, targeting the elderly poor now. I bet they'll be crowing about how few people responded to the audits (and hence lost the credit.) Not MY clients, they don't.