Ooooooooh, scared Maryland?! Yeah, I thought not. But I tell you one thing, I’m damn happy I have an accountant on my side! It reiterates my theory that it’s better to use a CPA than file your own taxes if you don’t know what you’re doing (like me).

As you can tell, I just got audited by the great state of Maryland. But the weirdest part is that they went all the way back to 2006! It makes me wonder if they’re just backed up like crazy, or if they’re straight gunning for me ;) All I know is that it’s a good thing I hold onto all financial documents for 5+ years in case stuff like this ever pops up. $hit, I probably even have my tax paperwork for the past 10 years.

At any rate, according to Maryland’s Comptroller I didn’t pay the portions I was “supposed to” pay back in ’06. I put quotes around that because they are wrong. And the only reason I know that they are wrong is because my accountant told me so (Gawd I love her). I have no problem paying my fair share of taxes, but I prefer to give away my money only when owed. And take a look at that INTEREST CHARGE! You get notified now, and then have to pay on all the years passed? I guess if it was legit it makes sense, but that’s still pretty freaky.

They def. had me scared for a good 24 hours. Anytime the government tells you that you owe money, it tends to grab your attention. Plus, as naive as it sounds, I usually feel like they are right. The old me would have just paid it off and blocked it out of my memory, but the NEW me (circa 2007) now researches and gets to the bottom of things. Or in this case, knows how to utilize his accountant ;)

The morning after receiving this “Notice of Adjustment” letter via mail, I scanned and emailed it over to her. Within 2 hours I got an explanation back from my accountant that a) the gov’t had it wrong, and b) after they receive some extra documentation to review (that she will be sending them), I shouldn’t have to pay! Apparently, Maryland had my residence there all sorts of jacked up so it was an error on their part. We’ll see what happens when I get an updated notice, but I’m hoping that will be the end of it.

So, the morals of the story? Always research your weird bills and always onto your financial documents. I’m a huge supporter of paying my due taxes, but not so much paying $250 for someone else’s mistakes.