This is an update on my "my fault, any hope?" post of May 12 this year. It's not a happy ending -- maybe not even an ENDING at all, but here it is:

SIL prepared our taxes that year on a computer he still owns but doesn't use. He went to the trouble of booting it back up, only to find that the program he used didn't automatically save.

So I called the number [not toll-free] given on the letter and explained the situation, adding that DH and I had filed and paid state taxes for 33 years. He broke into my tirade saying, "Get your employer to send you a copy of your W-2 along with your husband's. Send a copy to us and we'll take it from there."

Employer took a long time to send the W-2s [Mem. Day weekend]and sent ME someone else's with the same last name. Time was running out on the 30-day limit, so I sent the taxation dept. both copies with an explanation and a promise to send the correct one as soon as it came.

Today a letter came saying, "AN ASSESSMENT, BASED ON THE BEST AVAILABLE INFORMATION RECEIVED, IS ISSUED FOR NOT FILING A TAX RETURN."

INDIVIDUAL TAX: $30.00

IND. PENALTY $15.00

IND. INTEREST $ 4.52

The original letter said we owed $144.

I will send the state dept. of taxation a check for what it says is the "total amount due," $49.52, but I want to send a protest along with it.

How did they arrive at these dollar amounts? Why does the letter state only DH's SS and not mine?

I feel totally powerless, completely clueless, and very much afraid that this is only the beginning.

What would you do in this situation? chery-va