Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Alert To Arkansas TaxPayers

I just received the third fax from a client where the Arkansas Dept. of Finance & Administration has sent a bill charging late filing & payment penalties for 1999, even though the tax returns were filed before the October 16 due date.

These penalties are bogus and prove that IRS doesn’t have a monopoly on screwing up the processing of tax returns. As with many states, the Ark DFA doesn’t require a separate extension form to be filed directly with it if one has ben filed with IRS. As extra insurance against just this kind of erroneous penalty, I have been attaching copies of the Federal extensions and even rubber stamping the tax returns with “EXTENSIONS ATTACHED.”

I mention this for others to not simply believe that the DFA knows what it is doing and send in a payment. Write to them and include a copy of your Federal extension form. Just as with similar bogus IRS notices, it is often necessary to instruct DFA employees on how their own laws and regulations are to be applied.

KMK