Confessions of a "tax delinquent"
For the last 23 years, my wife and I have been city tax delinquents. It apparently began with my wife using the wrong year's tax form to report and pay taxes on a small amount of outside income, probably in 1985. The city had no problem depositing our check, but they attributed it to 1984 instead of 1985, and ever since, they've been trying to collect again for 1985. We've been on the phone repeatedly explaining the problem and following up with documents. Twice -- or is it three times, or even four? -- the city has sued us. On those occasions, my wife has assembled all the paperwork and taken it into court, satisfying a judge and the city's lawyers that we don't owe any money. The city's lawyers have promised to straighten out the city's records. But, sure as clockwork, we get another notice six months later, and every six months after that, saying that we still owe the money, with ever-increasing interest and penalties. The bottom line for me: you can't believe any of the city's claims about who owes them money and who doesn't.

Confessions of a "tax delinquent"
For the last 23 years, my wife and I have been city tax delinquents. It apparently began with my wife using the wrong year's tax form to report and pay taxes on a small amount of outside income, probably in 1985. The city had no problem depositing our check, but they attributed it to 1984 instead of 1985, and ever since, they've been trying to collect again for 1985. We've been on the phone repeatedly explaining the problem and following up with documents. Twice -- or is it three times, or even four? -- the city has sued us. On those occasions, my wife has assembled all the paperwork and taken it into court, satisfying a judge and the city's lawyers that we don't owe any money. The city's lawyers have promised to straighten out the city's records. But, sure as clockwork, we get another notice six months later, and every six months after that, saying that we still owe the money, with ever-increasing interest and penalties. The bottom line for me: you can't believe any of the city's claims about who owes them money and who doesn't.

Impossible to certify houses for property tax collection
The Dept of Revenue makes property tax collection as hard as possible, even on nuisance properties. Good owners have to do the research then put up the money to force the Dept. of Revenue to "certify" houses for collection that owe taxes. There is no way to do this in a way that assures the property stays in collection status unless you put down $700 of your own money to make the city do its job. The money is refundable in a year when the house sells, but you have to go and request it to get it back. This is a crazy system that exists no where else but Philly. The Commissioner of the Dept. of Revenue has been asked to fix this numerous times, but won't. I don't see why a house that is empty and owes significant property taxes can't be "certified" for sheriff sale by the Dept. of Revenue with no money involved but still made to stay in the collection process without political interference. The Dept. of Revenue is a big reason that the city is owed $425,000,000.00 in overdue property taxes, 60% of which would go to schools if only the Dept. of Revenue acted. It's time to abolish the Dept. of Revenue, and contract out the whole department to a professional, nonpolitical municipal contractor who does collections. Other PA counties do this and carry little debt as a result.

Dept of Revenue Technology out of date -- still uses electromagnetic tape to store data, old computers, upgrades are not possible
I've gone to certify properties for collection of property taxes with a money order because the agency won't take checks, use credit cards, etc. for this, even though the rest of the Dept. of Revenue does so. You shouldn't have to put down money to request that the city collect property taxes by initiating the sheriff sale process in a way that keeps the process accountable and on track. But you do. But if we are, we should be able to use normal instruments of payment such as the agency uses in other parts of itself. The technology in the whole Department is completely out of date, and even some employees have no idea how to use their system fully. That means if one employee is sick, others have no idea how to process simple requests that are the sick employee's job. The software itself is hopeless, and they still use tape, yes, TAPE to store data, not hard drives, not disks. It's insane. Ed Goppelt of Hallwatch requested data from the Dept of Revenue and they responded by giving him electromagnetic tape with the data on it. That was the best they could do. This means waits are long, and service is spotty, and problems with the data is legend. What city in 2009 operates like this? Upgrades are not possible on this custom software unless the old contractor is used, and no modern software like MS Office for database or even word processing, or Excel is even used. This makes compatibility with other agencies not possible. No one in the Dept. of Revenue has the FIRST CLUE how to fix this, either. Ask them.

Political interference in the Dept. of Rev. is obvious and quality customer service is an unknown concept
I can't tell you how many times I've had poor customer service at the Dept of Revenue. They tell you things that are wrong, such as you can't certify properties anymore, and you call and find out that's not true. One desk clerk told me, when I requested to certify a property for sheriff sale that the "the Dept. of Revenue doesn't collect property taxes." That is true, but what the Dept. of Revenue does do is certify that properties owe money and this starts the collection process. I asked the clerk why she was trying to dissuade people from initiating collection by giving them misleading information. She became angry and starting yelling. Her boss had to take her off the desk. I requested to know how to complain, and was not given an answer. The employees at the Dept. of Revenue are very conflicted about what their job is -- they want to prevent sheriff sales by not giving the information to the proper channels to initiate collection, but that contradicts their mandate. I was bluntly told by the boss of this woman that the "higher ups" had ordered the Dept. of Revenue to slow things down. How can that be, when the city and schools are desperate for money?

Rapid Liens
In October of 2008 my cousin died. Her property tax for October, November and December in the amount of $74.11 had not been paid.Immediately it was sent to collections and additional charges added to increase the amount owed. You cannot negotiate with the collections agenciesthey have hired even though you might have the principal they want it all.

City Wage tax fiasco
I received a bill from the City for nearly $5,000 for "estimated" earnings that they claim I never paid taxes on. Turns out that I earned a few hundred dollars under a 1099 form back in 2002. I paid the federal taxes, but not the city tax. The Controller's Office then "estimated" that owed over $5,000 for income they "estimated" that I made in subsequent years from 2003 thru 2005. Obvioulsy, I proved to Mr. Butkovitz that all I really owed was about $75, NOT $5,000. I supplied every federal tax return for the years covered and asked for an apology from Butkovitz...which, of course, I never received. The City SHOULD tax 1099 income. What no one reports is that most 1099 income goes to doctors and lawyyesr and amounts to millions of dollars that never gets collected...unless you happen to be named "Feudi".

Property Tax Bill
I recently paid off my mortgage and for the 1st time will be responsible to pay property taxes directly. I have contacted the revenue department several times and have yet to receive a invoice from the city.

Rude BRT employees "C. Davis"
I called the BRT this morning regarding the 1% discount off of my 2010 tax bill for paying your taxes by Feb 28. After about 30+ minutes of waiting, an employee who identified himself as "C. Davis" answered with a rude and unprofessional attitude. I ask my question and told “C. Davis” that I did not see where the discount was adjusted toward my bill. He told me to get a calculator and do the math, that it was not his job to explain to me how to calculate my tax bill in a belligerent tone of voice. I ask to speak to a supervisor, but “C. Davis” would not transfer me to a supervisor. He said to give him my phone number and one would call me back (yeah right!). I double checked the BRT web site looking for another number where I could contact a supervisor without any success. So I called 311 to report this unprofessional city employee “C. Davis.” 311 took my complaint and gave me a file # 825916. I don’t know what will come of this 311 complaint, but city employees, or any employee who works in customer service who can not provide service in a professional manner should not be working in that profession. Maybe “C. Davis” should sweeping the floors at night and not answering the phone fielding tax payers’ questions.

Is Zero an Option?
There are numerous C Davis employees at the Revenue Department. I think that is just a pseudonym they all use.

CITY HAS A FUND FOR VICTIM-WITNESSES RIGHT?
I AM LIVING ESSENTIALY "HOMELESS" BCAUSE THE CITY OF PHILA HAS FAILED TO ASSIST ME! I HAVE PROVIDED OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF PHILA FBI CORRUPTION! ZANE MEMEGER SE PA DOJ & SETH WILLIAMS PHILA DA BOTH HAVE FAILED TO PROVIDE ME WITH FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION! PLEASE SEE MY PUBLISHED REPORTS GOOGLE SEARCH: 1) AG CASE# 200706634 / CONGRESS.ORG 2) REP. SESTAK ADVISES FBI OVERSIGHT RICH MILLS - VICTIM OF CRIME SOC SEC# 150-78-0087

CITY HAS A FUND FOR VICTIM-WITNESSES RIGHT?
I AM LIVING ESSENTIALY "HOMELESS" BCAUSE THE CITY OF PHILA HAS FAILED TO ASSIST ME! I HAVE PROVIDED OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF PHILA FBI CORRUPTION! ZANE MEMEGER SE PA DOJ & SETH WILLIAMS PHILA DA BOTH HAVE FAILED TO PROVIDE ME WITH FEDERAL WITNESS PROTECTION! PLEASE SEE MY PUBLISHED REPORTS GOOGLE SEARCH: 1) AG CASE# 200706634 / CONGRESS.ORG 2) REP. SESTAK ADVISES FBI OVERSIGHT RICH MILLS - VICTIM OF CRIME SOC SEC# 150-78-0087

Department of Revenue is a Nightmare
I thought I would share this letter I sent back in December to all of city council. I spoke directly with one city council member and the commissioner of the revenue department and got NOWHERE. Ended up paying all of this... Dear Mayor Nutter, I am writing because I have been a strong supporter of your office, as you have been a supporter to so many of my clients and community partners. However, there is one serious issue with the city’s tax structure that has severely affected me on a personal level and will likely drive me out of the city in the next five years. I know you understand the problem with the city’s Business Privilege Tax. It is a hot button issue which you promised to amend in your candidate platform, but were unable to due to the economic downturn. I don’t agree with the postponement in amending this policy, but my problem is of an even greater urgency. Innocent and honest taxpayers myself are being persecuted at a level which you may not even be aware of. It appears that the City’s Revenue Office has been charged with collecting funds by whatever means possible. Rather than go after major business delinquents who have beat and avoided the system for years, it seems to have gone after the few honest and easy targets it can find – namely, myself and my family. I have run a small public relations firm out of my Center City Home for eight years. My business is actually dedicated to promoting businesses making a positive contribution to the local community. I turn a small profit, especially after paying out of pocket for health insurance and basic living necessities. I have always paid my taxes in a timely manner, and applied for my BPT license after my accountant told me to upon purchasing my home in 2006. My prior accountant from 2003-2006 told me I did not need a BPT as I was not a homeowner. Upon a thorough search of my IRS records by your Department of Revenue, I was sent a letter in 2009 regarding those lost years of city tax payment. I realize that it was my fault for not getting a BPT license sooner, and trusting my former accountant. Regardless, appealing was impossible as I was told that appealing would likely mean paying the enforced penalty taxes in addition to the massive interest fees. Additionally, through that search your office found records of my husband’s small amount of freelance writing work that he takes on to make ends meet. As he was not aware that he needed a BPT to write a handful of articles for small publications, he was also now liable for seven years worth of back taxes and interest fees. All told, we paid $13,000 as a result of those fines. I was 8 months pregnant and told that if I didn’t pay immediately, it would be doubled with penalties. It is now the final night of 2010, and in the mail today I received another letter from your revenue department. This time, they really dug down deep. So deep, in fact, that they loop-holed right around the federal government’s seven year statute of limitations. Apparently that doesn’t apply for the city. This letter references my 2002 employment in Wilmington, DE – nine years ago! Apparently, my employer, despite having my Philadelphia address on record, was not deducting the city wage tax from my payroll. I was 21 years old, had just graduated college, and had no way of knowing this even existed. It was my employer’s responsibility to handle this for me and they made an error. By the city waiting NINE years to follow up on this, they now expect me to pay an 87% interest fee. If I appeal this case, knowing there is a slight chance of it going in my favor, I risk almost 200% in penalty fees. I either pay $2500 or face paying $5000. That is actually 1/6 of my entire pay for that year. I’m not sure if anything can be done about the policies of the revenue department, but to me, it feels like a witch hunt. And it may be the very best and most honest of citizens who are being victimized. So many people fly under the radar with false addresses, false claims, tax evasion. My family has personally and professionally invested so much in this city and it is we who have to keep giving massive amounts of our hard-earned money to a city that can’t be bothered to do something about the prostitutes outside my door, the garbage on my street, the crime I witness in my neighborhood. With that, we have set our sights on the suburbs – a place we never wanted to go. We will miss the city, but we have a feeling it will miss us more.