A Taxing Morning

Late last week, I received a letter from the NY State Department of Taxation and Finance, indicating that I owed them MUMBLEMUMBLE dollars. It was a suspiciously high number, unaccounted for by a simple mathematical error. The explanatory noted revealed that whoever processed my tax return had neglected to factor the paycheck witholdings from my W-2 form. Yeah, they didn't apply the money I'd paid all year to the bill.

The form had a number to call if I was disputing the bill, as well as online options (too damn byzantine to navigate) and mail-in options (the current Maladminstration is messing with the US Postal Service).  I called the number, pressed the number for my preferred language, and entered my social security number. 

The conversation I had with the representative of the Department of Taxation and Finance was actually pleasant.  I explained the nature of the problem and he was able to quickly resolve the issue by pulling up copies of the two W-2 forms I'd affixed to my IT-201i form (one for New York State, and one for my beloved Yonkers).  He quickly made the adjustment to the bill, indicated that everything was resolved, and bid me a good day.  The whole process took about ten minutes.

I had been stressed out and pissed off when I received the letter, which of course didn't lead me to yell and carry on at the bureaucrat that I spoke with this morning... you just don't mistreat the person best equipped to help you.  My stress and peevishness are completely gone now.  Whatever led to the initial mistake has been dealt with, and once again, I am impressed with the courtesy and professionalism of the government functionaries that so many people like to beat up on.