About 40 people or couples have filed multiple homestead credits and have been contacted by the county to pay back taxes
since the beginning of the year, according to the Monroe County Auditor’s Office. People who were receiving homestead deductions on multiple properties owe an average of $6,000 in back taxes in Monroe County from 2009 to 2012, said Michael Horsley, who oversees homestead credits in the auditor’s office. Horsley sent out letters informing the taxpayers of the amount owed in back taxes. Those receiving letters range from people who had sold or are in the process of selling one property and forgot to remove their original homestead credit, to couples who filed a credit for one property under the wife’s name and one under the husband’s name, unaware that only one homestead credit is allowed per couple. “We’re trying to save people money,” Horsley said. “The more people that cheat the system, the more taxpayers have to pay.” Most people who receive the letters either pay the back taxes in full or are on a payment plan with the county, but Horsley said six people have not contacted him regarding the payment of the taxes. The county can only legally collect back taxes for taxes due and payable after 2009, when the statute changed to require those claiming homestead credit to provide the last five digits of a Social Security number and full driver’s license number. Anyone who filed for homestead credits before 2009 was asked to complete a Homestead Verification Form, a pink form that was mailed alongside taxes for the last three years, providing the identification information. The state is using the information to create a database
that will prevent people from claiming multiple homestead credits. The auditor’s office enters the information into the state database, and has discovered some of the multiple filings. Others were found by SRI Inc., a company that was hired by the county to collect back taxes, and verified by the auditor’s office. SRI Inc. collected more than $20,000 in back taxes over the past two weeks, Monroe County Auditor Steve Saulter said. ... See the full article here: http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2013/03/09/news.auditor-s-office-cracking-down-on-multiple-homestead-tax-credits.sto
