Thread: Tax forms mailed with SS#'s

Tax Forms Mailed With Soc. Sec. Numbers
By Associated Press
4 hours ago

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin's revenue agency said Friday that it sent as many as 170,000 forms to taxpayers with mailing labels mistakenly printed with their Social Security numbers.

The state Department of Revenue was scrambling to alert taxpayers to be on the lookout for the mailings.

"We want to prevent any chance identity theft might occur," department spokeswoman Meredith Helgerson said. An agency news release included an apology to taxpayers and a statement that steps were being taken "to make sure that this will never happen again."

The misprinted labels, blamed on a computer error while they were being prepared, went to taxpayers who have used the basic Form 1, a long paper form for individuals, according to the department.

Those who filed their taxes with other forms, had a professional service prepare their taxes or filed electronically were not affected, she said.

Helgerson said the erroneously labeled mailings were sent to post offices, although some that went to the Madison and Portage post offices had not gone out, allowing the state to prevent them from being mailed.

She said she couldn't estimate how many of the labels made it through the mail. The agency said the postal service has agreed to retrieve and return any tax booklets that have not yet been delivered.
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?c ... 51829.html

How do you make a mistake like that? Didn't anyone check the labels beforehand? I'm sorry but there is no excuse whatever for this!

Seems there's been alot of assinine "mistakes" when it comes to personal information. From vetrans and students and banks and now this. Just thought it was strange since Swatchick had just posted info on mail ID theft and the documents that come in your mail......next day...here's this article.

It almost seems like these "mistakes" are making things much easier for criminals. Another way to destroy the American middle class? Steal and destroy their identities.

Mistake my butt!!!!Weclome mat for your new National Id card and don't forget your passport...never know when THEY will need to see your "papers"....gee..something sounds so familiar

An agency news release included an apology to taxpayers and a statement that steps were being taken "to make sure that this will never happen again."

Nice to know it won't happen again, but the damage is already done.

There is no excuse for this. Maybe they outsource their data entry work to India or somewhere, or maybe their in house staff can't read English. Or maybe they are just plain incompetent.

The neglect is intentional, whether the actual "mistake" was intentional or not, who knows? But the end result is the same... it's just another attack on American citizens and legal residents.