You open the mail to find a notice
County: Erie
State: NY
Filing Agency: Federal Tax Authorities
BARCODE
Taxpayer Protection Program Enrollment Eligibility Deadline
To contest the lien please call Notification: January 22 2021
1(800)671-3769 Deadline: 02/05/2021
Taxpayer Name & Address Filing No: ***-*****N2
“Name”
Address
City, State Zip
BARCODE
“NAME”, YOUR PROPERTY WILL BE SEIZED
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Taxpayer “name”,
The Federal Tax Authorities has attempted to collect the overdue debt of _'amount'_, which has not been paid. You must call 1(800)671-3769 by 02/05/2021.
The Federal Tax Authorities may seize this property for nonpayment of taxes, penalties and interest due to Federal Tax Authorities. During this seizure it will be against the law to enter, dismantle, take possession of or re-move anything from your property. The Federal Tax Authorities may impose garnishment on all bank accounts and income in the 'name of '.
NOTE: To avoid enforcement, call 1(800)671-3769, by 02/05/2021 or further action can be taken in exacting the value by levying.
Did you receive this notice?
Before you start panicking over the large sum of money the letter claims you owe, are you aware of any unpaid taxes you owe? If not, you need to determine if the notice is legitimate. Please be cautious whenever you receive letters that ask for any payment. Even if you think this notice seems to be from a government agency, do not take a mailing like this at face value! Do some research and make phone calls to legitimate county agencies. Ask questions of people who you know are legitimate sources. Call our office for help! We can investigate and will let you know if the correspondence is a legitimate request or a scam.
Who sent this letter? Erie County New York does not have a "Tax Processing Unit" or a “Federal Tax Authorities.” If you owe taxes on a property in Erie County, New York, your interactions would occur with the Erie County Real Property Tax Services. Do you own the property where you received the correspondence? If not, is the alleged tax debt IRS- related? If the matter is IRS-related, why are you not receiving communication from the IRS directly?
There are several RED FLAGS one should see with this communication letter:
● Why is the print so small at the bottom of the letter? Because the sender doesn’t want you to be able to easily see “This company is a private company not the government, it does not represent or collect on behalf of the Federal Tax Authorities”
● There is no address on how to contact the company sending this letter? Why is the company reaching out to you hiding?
● What company is attempting to collect this tax debt?
● Who is "Federal Tax Authorities? ”The Federal Tax Authorities uses this warrant in collection action, such as a garnishment of wages and bank accounts, property seizures, federal tax refund offset, and creation of a property lien."
● What taxing authority is collecting the outstanding tax debt?
● Why doesn't the letter identify the actual tax owed?
● What tax period is the debt covering?
Erie County Office of Consumer Protection called the number listed in the letter, 1-800-671-3769; a man answered the phone, he identified himself as Drew. I asked what private company he worked for and was told American Tax Solutions. When I asked where the company gathers the information for the communication letters he said it's a public record and before I could ask for any additional information, I was told "go do your due diligence, I won’t discuss this company’s business with you" and the call was disconnected. Why would a legitimate company hang up on someone asking for information about the company that is contacting them about an alleged debt?
The consumer who reached out about this letter contacted the 800 number; the man on the other end of the line aggressively sought her personal information that she refused to provide as the letter was for a company and not her individually. The man got irate and told her to “Call the County Taxes if you don’t believe us.” So she did! Never give out your personal information to an unknown party over the phone. When this consumer contacted Erie County Real Property Tax Services(ECRPTS), she confirmed that the payments to ECRPTS were current and paid in full for the property mentioned in this letter. The property referenced in the communication is under no risk of foreclosure from ECRPTS.
Please notify our office if you receive a mailing like this. You can file a complaint here. You should also report the incident to the New York State Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission.