statute of limitations on collecting personal property taxes?

[tweezers]

Hoping a tax expert/knowledgeable people on this forum will chime in here.

I attended graduate school in Arkansas 25 years ago as an international student, with a grad student stipend of <$10K/year.  I purchased a vehicle, which was registered in Arkansas from 1998-2000.  I filed both federal and state taxes, and did not have to pay anything because I was a non-resident alien (on a J1 visa), my income placed me below the poverty level, and there is a tax treaty with Canada (country of citizenship).  A clerk at the local IRS office helped me fill out my taxes.  I just received a delinquent notice from Faulkner County for close to $100 for unpaid personal property taxes on my vehicle in 1999 and 2000 (but not 1998 for some reason).  My grad school roommate received a similar invoice for a car that wasn't even registered in Arkansas (she was an out of state student).

I can easily pay but I know that I do not owe this money and it pisses me off that I've been sent this at all (and that someone took the time to hunt me down...I've lived at multiple addresses in two states since then). 

Questions:
1. What is the statute of limitations on collecting personal property taxes?
2. I don't know if I have copies of my 1999 and 2000 taxes anymore; if not, how do I prove I don't owe anything (and do I even need to)?
3. Will this come back to bite me if I don't do anything?
4. Should I just pay it (and be pissy about it for far too long)?

Thanks in advance...

[PMG]

I know very little and it’s been several years since I read about tax treaties but I thought they usually only apply to income tax?  You would still be liable for personal property taxes. You might start be reviewing the tax treaty.

Eta. I didn’t actually respond to any of your questions!

[seattlecyclone]

The state would presumably be free to set its own statute of limitations for its own taxes, or not have one at all, so you'd have to look into the specific rules for Arkansas.

[NotJen]

It wasn't Arkansas, but when I used to pay personal property taxes on my vehicle, it was automatically included in my tag fees each year.  Which would make sense why you don't owe for 1998, but do owe for 1999 and 2000 - it's possible you paid the tax when you first registered the vehicle, and then missed paying for the following years, for whatever reason.

The personal property tax has nothing to do with federal or state income tax filings, so I doubt those would be helpful.  Do you have the registration/tag documents from back then?

[ixtap]

Google says there is no statute of limitations for this. Like others, I am surprised it was not part of your registration fees, but it has nothing to do with your income taxes not owed at the time.

Personally, I would do a little more research, but probably send off the check by the end of the day. If I were a long term record keeper, I would look at the registration from back then as confirmation.

As for the roommate, they were likely in violation of the registration rules at the time. They are even more likely to owe the taxes, which in many states go by physical presence, rather than registration per se.

I wonder if the state recently got a hold of the university's parking permit records and cross referenced with their own. Seems like a lot of resources for low return, like library fines or drug testing for welfare.

[tweezers]

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. 

I'm a keeper of things like registration, old taxes, etc, so I have this documentation somewhere. However, it will be a life suck to locate and probably an even bigger life suck to deal with the county tax department once I do.  I'll just pay and be exceptionally crabby in the moment, but then be done with it.  I'm guessing that's what they anticipate most people doing, but I agree with you ixtap...seems like a huge amount of work for low return.  The notice included three envelopes with old addresses marked undeliverable/return to sender.  They went to some work to find me.

Hopefully the last I hear from Arkansas!

[Michael in ABQ]

At what point does someone in the government say, maybe we should just write this off since it's $100 dollars from 23 years ago?

On the one hand their dedication and perseverance to try and collect that money is somewhat impressive. On the other hand, it's a huge waste of time and resources. This sounds like a fishing expedition where they're going to send out 10,000 of these notices in hopes that a few people will send them some cash.

If you don't pay the State of Arkansas, can they really do anything about it?

Assuming you don't plan on living there again of course.

[ATtiny85]

Maybe it was some intern's project. "Hey, clean out that file cabinet and draft a report about what you find" and then it grew from there.

I received a letter from a state income department about owing taxes once (had redirected mail to a friend's house when I went overseas for a few years.) I wrote a letter to them explaining and never heard back.

Given the length of time it has been, I'd be tempted to send a certified letter asking for more information. Maybe it would take another 20+ years to hear back. (Or it might backfire).

I can't believe you have the records going back that far. Not sure that is positive or negative...

[bacchi]

The notice included three envelopes with old addresses marked undeliverable/return to sender.  They went to some work to find me.

This sounds like a fishing expedition where they're going to send out 10,000 of these notices in hopes that a few people will send them some cash.

Yep.

That begs the question, OP -- how do they know that they found you?

[BlueHouse]

I'd pick up the phone and call them.  Things have changed in state and local tax offices (in some places).  I called a Virginia tax line to talk about something I didn't think I owed, and they waived it right on the phone.  I was shocked and pleased. 

[Sibley]

You drove around for 2 years with an expired license plate? You're lucky you didn't get pulled over and ticketed then.

Your state and federal tax returns have nothing to do with this. This is the vehicle registration fee - meaning the little sticker you get and put on your license plate to prove you're current with registration.

Generally, it takes the applicable government body voting and approving to write off unpaid amounts en masse. Vehicle registration fees would be the state legislature. So, the state legislature would have to get a list, and approve writing it off. I doubt that has happened. Individual writeoffs may happen, but it involves contacting the appropriate office (in this case, the DMV/secretary of state/whatever it's called in that state) and talking to them.

The pertinent facts are: you owned a vehicle, you did/did not pay registration on that vehicle.

[tweezers]

Thanks for everyone's input.  To be clear, I paid registration fees every year (and applied the updated sticker to my license plate) .  Apparently personal property tax on the vehicle is collected separately?  Regardless, I was able to renew my tags annually without issue so if I missed out on paying something they clearly dropped the ball on an avenue for collection.  I don't know what I paid and no longer have the vehicle registration paperwork from back then, but my vehicle was always legal.

I took Blue's advice and called the county for more information.  I wasn't able to say more than that I received a bill from 23 years ago because the county person interjected that they have proof I didn't pay, the county is working with an attorney, and they're garnishing wages for repayment.  I didn't even provide my name or the invoice number.  She said that I was sent bills for this while I was in Arkansas but must have moved or ignored them (same address all three years, and I don't ignore bills). 

My perspective on this has changed and I'm going to ignore this bill.  This is the first I've heard of this in over 20 years.  The time to collect this money was when I renewed my license plates, and the reasonable window of time for billing after the fact has long passed.  I was at my next address for 6 years and friends lived in my old house in AR who would have forwarded mail to me, and I received nothing.  Maybe I'll reevaluate if they follow up, but for now I'm not going to do anything. 

[six-car-habit]

  " I wasn't able to say more than that I received a bill from 23 years ago because the county person interjected that they have proof I didn't pay, the county is working with an attorney, and they're garnishing wages for repayment.  I didn't even provide my name or the invoice number. "

  That sort of sums up the competency and attitude of the county officials.

 Do you live in Arkansas anymore ? Or even drive thru the state ?  Are the demand letters sent by certified mail ?   
   Will they compel you to show up  in county court with a subpoena... i think not likely.

 Somehow i think the # they want is not $100 dollars --- Maybe $100 plus++  18% interest accumulated and compounded over 25 years, extra fees tacked on for each notice they sent in the past, etc.   

[Zamboni]

This whole thing is just absolutely bizarre. I would have trouble remembering what my address was in 1999 . . . but they want you to remember whether or not you paid a bill that apparently you never received at the time?

[Morning Glory]

It could be a scam. Was the number you called on the letter you received or did you look it up separately?

[Zamboni]

I know this thread is very old and got revived, but I'm now of the opinion that this very likely was a scam. The step of looking up the appropriate state govt phone number online and calling would be a good first step if you want to take action. I pay all my bills without fail and on time, and I would not pay any bill from more than 20 years ago no matter what they claimed it was for since I don't keep records that far back.

[Morning Glory]

Oops, I didn't realize it was an old one. Can't see the dates on my phone unless I zoom on on them. The post before my last one looks like a spammer.