Foo - Tax problems anyone?

I got a letter from the Puerto Rico Tax Collector's Office. Apparently I owe them some money, a few Ks it seems. They claim I didn't filled/paid my taxes during a 3 year period. And of course I did not... I left the Island a year before that period and never looked back!

I've phone them, requesting what proof of income they are using to base their accusation but they refuse to discuss anything over the phone and say I have only 2 options:

1) Pay Up
2) Get my ass over there and deal with the problem in person.

Funny thing, this so called investigators missed the fact that the last year I was there, I did filed but never paid. Not paying is not a big issue, the debt does pile up and gain interests but you are still a free person. Not filling on the other hand, it's a criminal act and will land you in jail for a long time.

And there lies the problem. If I present myself there, I can be arrested right at the airport and thrown in jail for not filling these alleged taxes.

This issue is becoming a major PIA. Seems I need to research how to build a killdozer just in case. :notamused:

Contact a CPA, RA, or tax attorney on the island and have them review the situation and get advice.

Man, that reminds me! Must do my Australian tax...and plan for my Hong Kong tax.

I think what you need to present to them is your state tax return from the time periods in question showing that you were a resident of said other state and paid your taxes to that state. If you were living in FL (or a state with no income tax) I would think some proof of residency status would help you (executed lease or utility bills, etc..)

In lieu of making a trip over there, perhaps you can engage a local professional to handle it for you (you could file a limited power of attorney for tax matters only (http://www.hacienda.gobierno.pr/downloads/pdf/formularios/AS%202745-A.pdf))

You don't want to present yourself in person to deal with this, AND they will NOT deal with it over the phone. There are privacy issues & laws that prevent personal situations from being handled over the phone (like, how do they know you are you?)

Write to them, or use e-mail/fax. Present them with your FL date of residency: rent/utility bills, driver's license change-over, insurance proof, veter's registration card, etc. that proove you do not live in PR anymore. The IRS might actually be helpful here, if you can proved a statement from them that you filed taxes (either FL or US) for the years in question. Contact your local IRS office (check the Federal building) and tell them you need a Statement of Tax Filing for the appropriate years - it's a computer generated form letter. Bring picture ID, your SS card, and your tax copies for the years you need the letter.... you don;t want to mail or fax copied of your actual taxes unless you absolutely have to. Request a letter stating that you DO NOT owe and did NOT have to file PR taxes for the years in question, and confirmation that the debt has been stricken from your record.

I like the idea of hiring a local PR tax people to deal with the issue... thx for the tip Foo. It will not be free, but neither would be a trip to the island. Plus it sure beats jail.

From what I got over the phone (which is not much), seems they think I came to the states to work, temporary, and go back to the island. That would make me some kind of "over seas worker" that has to pay taxes to both the state where the employment is, and the PR commonwealth.

I heard similar crazy tax stories like that from veterans who exit the service in a foreign country, stay there for a couple of years (usually with some foreign wife) and then come back.

No one pays taxes in PR and they're not coming across the ocean to beat your ass in the future.

Get a fake passport for when you visit relatives in the homeland.
(See Rauls Midnight Travel Service in Ponce)

Laugh if you must Rube but this is the most cost effective way to hang on to the few "sheckles"you have left after the ex-wifes,kids,car clinics,bar tab at the Copa Cabana.