More TurboTrouble reported
A reader whom I don't know writes:
Hey, more TurboTax problems! Yay!When we wrote about the troubles Oregon taxpayers were claiming that TurboTax caused them with their state income tax "kicker" refunds, a TurboTax exec was right on the case, even leaving comments on this blog. We'll see what happens with this latest report.A janitor in my office stopped by yesterday to lament that he spent an eternity on the telephone, waiting to discuss a surprising Notice of Tax Assessment he received. He said that eventually, someone at the state's Department of Revenue informed him they "did not accept payments through turbo tax" and he indeed owed the money he had already sent them when he completed his return.
Well, I thought something had to be amiss; I used TurboTax and made my state payment through their website and no problem...
... until I checked my PO Box this morning.
Indeed, they state I also owe, PLUS penalty and interest.
I googled this in a couple different manners, and there doesn't seem to be anything out there about it. So maybe you can be the first.
| Posted at 9:23 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (6)
I use Turbo Tax and as I recall it was pretty clear that if you owe taxes to the state you can't make an electronic payment but have to mail in your check with all the necessary printed forms.
Posted by TOM | June 11, 2008 10:54 AM
I thought the way it worked was that you could file your return through Turbo Tax, but then had to use ODT's web-accessible tool if you wanted to actually pay your tax bill online via debit card.
At least I hope that's what you were supposed to do!
Posted by John | June 11, 2008 11:24 AM
I thought the way it worked was that you could file your return through Turbo Tax, but then had to use ODT's web-accessible tool if you wanted to actually pay your tax bill online via debit card.
Thats how I saw it as well. And it was through a third party, who charged a fee.
So I waited until April 15th and sent it by mail.
Posted by Jon | June 11, 2008 12:15 PM
I received the same Notice of Tax Assessment after submitting a payment by check (and coincidentally using TurboTax). The representative I spoke to at the Portland DOR field office informed me that the amount I submitted was credited toward the 2008 tax year, not 2007. Getting through to the Salem DOR office to straighten this out has been much less fruitful...
Posted by Spencer | June 11, 2008 12:15 PM
Yep, TurboTax made it very clear to you could file electronically with TurboTax, but you had to either mail a check, or use ODOR's approved third party provider to make an ACH payment for the taxes you owe.
I wonder if people actually sent money to TurboTax for their state taxes, or if they just thought it would use the same information that the federal tax payment used. (Since refunds share the same information for direct deposit.)
Posted by Mike | June 11, 2008 12:54 PM
I checked with the OR Dept of Revenue. The person tells me Oregon accepts payment in 2 ways through TurboTax:
1) mail a check
2) electronic withdrawal from your checking/savings account - if you select that, you'll get sent to another website to go through the process.
**You must put in your actual checking or savings account number, NOT your debit card or credit card number. Could that be the problem?
OR Dept of Rev's customer service # is 800-356-4222
Good luck.
Posted by Tracey | June 13, 2008 11:05 AM