Mani
06-07-2010, 10:00 PM
OK, this is the kind of story that makes me ill.:mad:
It bothers me to the pit of my stomach, but here it's a curious story about a red tape mix up. The american people should be outraged by this kind of thing, because we know this is NOT just one incident, but this happens ALL the time.
http://wcbstv.com/local/joe.villano.back.2.1738289.html
Think You Have Tax Problems? Meet Joseph Villano
New York State Says He Owes Well Over $2 Million In Back Taxes, A Claim He And His Financial Gurus Say Is Insane
Monday night a Brooklyn man said the state tax department is ruining his life.
The 70-year-old grandfather of 10 has a colossal tax problem and it's getting bigger.
"The New York State tax authority has made my life a total miserable disaster all these years," Joseph Villano said.
It started in Brooklyn, where Villano's company installed 11 elevators at a government building in the early 1990s.
The trouble is he said the $400,000 he stood to collect from the job evaporated when the general contractor overseeing the job ran into trouble -- its assets seized by the government.
But that hasn't stopped New York State from claiming that he still owes hundreds of thousands in back taxes -- and he said they've hounded him for it for 15 years.
"The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has been relentless. They've garnished his wages, levied his bank account and seized his car," attorney tax practitioner Bradley Dorin said.
And just Monday afternoon there was another shocker.
"I got this notice in the mail, only the total now is at $2.174 million. So the number gets bigger every time I get this," Villano said.
"This is an outrageous abuse," tax practitioner David Selig said.
Villano's tax team said the state has already gotten its money and shouldn't be paid twice.
"I would like an equitable resolution so I don't have to spend my life looking over my shoulder and not see a tax revenue guy coming up my driveway," Villano said.
Villano's advisers are proposing to New York State what is known as an offer in compromise. They're hoping to settle the case for $1 and bring his 15-year nightmare to an end.
CBS 2 HD reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which has not yet provided answers to our questions. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance would only provide a list of the amounts it says Villano owes.
It bothers me to the pit of my stomach, but here it's a curious story about a red tape mix up. The american people should be outraged by this kind of thing, because we know this is NOT just one incident, but this happens ALL the time.
http://wcbstv.com/local/joe.villano.back.2.1738289.html
Think You Have Tax Problems? Meet Joseph Villano
New York State Says He Owes Well Over $2 Million In Back Taxes, A Claim He And His Financial Gurus Say Is Insane
Monday night a Brooklyn man said the state tax department is ruining his life.
The 70-year-old grandfather of 10 has a colossal tax problem and it's getting bigger.
"The New York State tax authority has made my life a total miserable disaster all these years," Joseph Villano said.
It started in Brooklyn, where Villano's company installed 11 elevators at a government building in the early 1990s.
The trouble is he said the $400,000 he stood to collect from the job evaporated when the general contractor overseeing the job ran into trouble -- its assets seized by the government.
But that hasn't stopped New York State from claiming that he still owes hundreds of thousands in back taxes -- and he said they've hounded him for it for 15 years.
"The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has been relentless. They've garnished his wages, levied his bank account and seized his car," attorney tax practitioner Bradley Dorin said.
And just Monday afternoon there was another shocker.
"I got this notice in the mail, only the total now is at $2.174 million. So the number gets bigger every time I get this," Villano said.
"This is an outrageous abuse," tax practitioner David Selig said.
Villano's tax team said the state has already gotten its money and shouldn't be paid twice.
"I would like an equitable resolution so I don't have to spend my life looking over my shoulder and not see a tax revenue guy coming up my driveway," Villano said.
Villano's advisers are proposing to New York State what is known as an offer in compromise. They're hoping to settle the case for $1 and bring his 15-year nightmare to an end.
CBS 2 HD reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which has not yet provided answers to our questions. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance would only provide a list of the amounts it says Villano owes.