FairTax – JerseySmarts.com

Normally, I wouldn’t single out a government agency or private enterprise as having horrible customer service unless I was beaten down by them time and time again. In fact, I would normally reserve my angry rants until I actually had a voice-to-voice interaction with the agency – either through physically going to their location or speaking on the telephone. Typically, I wouldn’t suggest that an agency has horrible customer service based on their e-mail communication alone… Until I received an e-mail from the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Wow.

Let me try to set the stage as quickly and clearly as possible. I use H&R Block’s “At Home” software to prepare and file my taxes each year. This year, because of an answer that I gave regarding my 2009 investments, I had to actually print my tax return and supporting documents and send them to the Division of Taxation. Believe it or not, this is the first time in many years that I’ve submitted a paper copy of my state tax return instead of e-filing, but I don’t want to go off on a techno-tangent right now.

The H&R Block program suggested a few weeks ago that there were no forthcoming software updates for the New Jersey tax program. Since I was filing by paper this year, when I saw that there were no pending changes to the program I printed out my tax return and sent it in with delivery confirmation. About a week went by and I received the stamped “received” receipt and all was well with the world.

Until I turned on the H&R Block program against last night. All of a sudden there was an update for the New Jersey tax program. I downloaded and installed the update and (surprise, surprise), my expected return nearly doubled! DOUBLED! Granted, we’re talking about going from $140 something to $280 something, but still – that’s a good little piece of money these days.

Being faced with the reality that my already-filed taxes were sitting in Trenton somewhere reporting that the state owed me less than they actually owed me, I decided to report the situation to the Division of Taxation. Figuring that in 2010 e-mail was the quickest and easiest way to get a response, I e-mailed my situation to the Division. This is what I received in return:

The New Jersey Division of Taxation received your e-mail. Due to the high volume of e-mail, please allow AT LEAST 15 business days and possibly longer for a reply. We appreciate your patience and will make every effort to respond to your e-mail as soon as possible. However, if the information listed below answers your question, you will NOT receive any further response from the Division.

So let me lay this out for everyone… My e-mail was received (good news), but the Division of Taxation is so busy that they may not be able to answer me until Thursday, April 29th (bad news)? Name me one private company on the planet that can get away with not responding to a customer inquiry for FIFTEEN business days. But wait! Read on, my friends, because the fun doesn’t end there…

Not only do I have to wait until Thursday, April 28th until I receive a response, but there is a possible chance that I’ll have to wait even longer. EVEN LONGER?! Really?!

Look, I work around the corner from the Division of Taxation building in Trenton. In fact, I walk by it every once in a while (as well as the dozen and a half people who seem to be smoking outside consistently). The building is gigantic – absolutely huge. You mean to tell me that in that gigantic, huge building there isn’t one person who can get back to me on what I should do in order to get the proper refund? Really?

That is customer service at its worst and that is why the current tax code should be replaced with the fair tax. I’ll just chalk this up to another example of how the “little people” don’t seem to really matter to the government machine.

Keeping with yesterday’s theme of watching President Barack Obama as he considers raising taxes on the middle class, I thought today would be the perfect time to talk about a book that I recently completed: The Fair Tax Book – Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS. This book, by Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder, contemplates an entirely new tax code for the United States of America. Boortz and Linder consider a whole new system – one based off of a consumption tax.

What is a consumption tax? It means that everything a person purchases is taxed at between 22% and 23%. But wait! That’s the only tax that anyone ever has to pay – ever. No income taxes, no business taxes, no capital gains taxes – nothing. You name a tax other than a consumption tax and it doesn’t exist. Another thing to keep in mind is that the tax is only assessed once. For example, if you buy a brand new car, you pay the tax. However, if you buy a used car – no tax. The Fair Tax is only assessed once.

The other critical point to remember under the Fair Tax is that each household in America would be reimbursed on a monthly basis for a dollar amount equal to what they would spend on basic goods. This immediately removes the argument that poorer citizens would be facing an undue burden under the Fair Tax. They wouldn’t be facing that burden because the government would provide each American household with a subsidy equal to what they would typically spend each month on consumption taxes for basic necessities.

There is obviously too much to go into in this small space. However, if you are interested in government reform or new ways for America to meet its obligations to its citizens, then I would recommend reading this book. I was completely against a Fair Tax when I first picked up this book, but after reading it I am convinced that it could be a great step forward for America in the new world economy.