RECIEVED BAD INFORMATION - SEE UPDATE 2

Seems as if the Department of Revenue is missing tax returns, including possibly yours.  If you got a letter saying "We Have Not Received Your Annual 2006 Tax Return" in big blue print in the mail - you should call 1-800-631-4028.

I did and after waiting eight minutes, I explained the situation to the receptionist. After repeating back the gent's instructions to verify if the tax check was cancelled or if not resubmit with a letter explaining the situation and asking the penalty be waived, the receptionist admitted "we lost a lot of taxpayers' mail" (or something very, very close to that effect) AFTER I said I sent the return on the 29th of January - 3 days before the due date. I asked why there wasn't a press release and he said, "we don't control the mail".

Time is of the essence - the current tardy on taxes penalty until the 28th (Wednesday) is 5% of due tax.  After then, the penalty spikes to 15% until April 2, when the penalty becomes 25%.

This is not the first PR disaster for the Washington State Department of Revenue this year.  Apparently they used the excuse of an independent contractor to tax a major company through the back door.  At least they don't have any State Auditor's Office findings… yet.

Update 01: I verified the check was cancelled and sent the Bank of America B&W proof to the DOR.  Stay tuned - the new receptionist for this case is going to call me back.

Update 02: The receptionist said the Department of Revenue couldn't make out one of the the UBI #s, hence the problem.  Didn't know about the missing mail - false alarm.  Not my fault -probably  DOR's though for putting out false information over the phone.  I was just the messenger.