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Some Hoosiers get tax notices, even though they don't owe anything

Overdue tax notices from the Indiana Department of Revenue are automatically generated. And the agency said sometimes, people’s payments are processed after the automatic notice goes out.
Overdue tax notices from the Indiana Department of Revenue are automatically generated. And the agency said sometimes, people’s payments are processed after the automatic notice goes out.

Some Hoosiers have gotten notices from the state that they have unpaid taxes that were due earlier this year, only to find out days later, they owe nothing.

The letters threaten that the state will issue a tax warrant if people don’t respond within a few weeks. But some Hoosiers who received them said, when they checked the state’s online tax portal just a few days later, they didn’t owe anything.

The Indiana Department of Revenue said those notices are automatically generated. And it said sometimes, people’s payments are processed after the automatic notice goes out.

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For instance, DOR said if you filed your taxes online but sent in a paper check, that might account for the delay. Or, if the payment you sent in didn’t have a voucher with it to indicate your account or didn’t have proper notation, it would take the agency longer to enter that payment into its system, thus accounting for the unpaid notice.

Hoosiers can check their tax balance online via the state’s  tax portal, INTIME.

Contact reporter Brandon at  bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at  @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon J. Smith has previously worked as a reporter and anchor for KBIA Radio in Columbia, MO. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, IL as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.