It's solved. Find part 2 of this with timestamps here: ruclips.net/video/qFVwQCFhKSE/видео.html This was their fault the entire time, 100% 1) I paid these taxes all along. It was never applied due to clerical error. 2) I was never notified of the court case against me, the taxes they thought I owed, or the lien, because all correspondence was being mailed to an address in Maine - this is for a lien in 2016. I visited Maine twice in my entire life, in January of 2020, for lobbying. The best part of it all, is that a) They were accepting my tax returns the entire time, and the money was coming out of my business checking account. They cashed the checks b) OTHER NYS department of taxation & finance mail & correspondence *WAS* coming to my registered business location - which is how I received notices for corporate tax, sales tax, my audit, etc. So I had no reason to believe they had the wrong address for me, because they were mailing me correspondence which I had been receiving for ten years, successfully. The solution to this is obvious. Google yourself every day to see if there is a warrant or lien on you, incase the state decides to take you to court over an error and send notification to you in another state you've never lived in or done business in Another video is coming up with this madness. It's 40 minutes long. I did my best with timestamps for you all who want to skip through it, stay tuned. If people still think I moved out of NYC because I'm a _rIgHt wInG GrIfTeR_ or something after these recorded phone calls, I have nothing left to say. To each their own - to those happy in NYC, enjoy it! I wish you as much happiness in my old home, as I wish for myself in my new home.
Correct, this lien is from 7 years ago, and I first visited Maine in January of 2020. The best part about it all is that they continue to take my money while simultaneously going to court and claiming that I was not paying my taxes. Taking me to court for taxes I already paid is one thing, sending the notification that you are taking me to court to an address in a state that I have never been to, that's full circle New York style incompetence
I had a CAT "failure to file" applied to me in Ohio a few years back. I did not owe the CAT tax ($150) as I did not qualify (less than $150k in revenue for one year) - but had failed to file as they require filing. I did file tax return as sole proprietor so they had my revenue and consequently my bracket on file if they so chose to check. Ohio has a progressive CAT tax - not looking, the brackets go up to $4 million in revenue. Ohio had my previous filing and my previous year bracket.. but what they did (and do to everyone, according to the CSR I contacted on phone) is put everyone in the $4 million bracket. So they began off the bat by sending me an $11000 tax bill. I no longer lived in Ohio. I contacted them. The next bill was $12000, the next one was $15000, the next one was $17000. These arrived a few months apart, each. In between, I made contact with multiple collection agencies of disreputable character (when I would prove to each one I did not owe the tax, they would sell it to another one). Finally, I received a summons for hearing to pay the $17000 tax or to respond - although response at that time, they claimed, was pointless since a year before, they had ruled I owed it in court (I did not receive a summons to court). I sent 10 pages of evidence showing that I did not owe the tax, I agreed to pay $150 + interest if they showed I owed it. They never responded. Not sure if the judge threw it out, since it was no longer Ohio collecting but it was a private collection agency that had taken me to what I think was a civil court. I assume this was the case because Ohio knew I didn't owe it. In those documents, I also showed the collections agencies apparently committing an illegal act (making up numbers). OH, and I looked up the court filing when I received the hearing summons, and guess what? The ruling was for something like $4000. Forgot about that. So I was getting collection bills (and had originally gotten bills from Ohio) inflated by a factor of 3-4. When I sent the response to the hearing, I sent something like 7 different notices with 7 different amounts - all different from the ruling. Some of them had a header essentially saying "at the behest of Ohio Attorney General). I had contacted by mail the OH AG twice initially, and received no response. Also, the ability to tell the difference between collections and Ohio was impossible. I still to this day do not know if Ohio or a collector was involved. I think it was both. Sorry if this is hard to understand - this ordeal was two years long as of last year.
I'm curious, is there any plausible reason why they would've sent it to an address in Maine. Similar company name? Similar street address? Or is it just 100% wrong?
You clearly don't understand how New York works - all government hiring is based on nepotism. She didn't get the job to frustrate people, or because she was qualified, she got it because of who she is related to.
"What is to be expected of them is not treachery, or physcial cowardice, but stupidity, sabotage and an infallible instinct for doing the wrong thing." ― George Orwell
Also reminds me of the bureaucrat aliens from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Hell, tge bureaucratic aliens might have been better. At least they'll tell you which forms you should have filed in an endless loop. In this case you get nothing but a stumped old lady or a stuttering blazed pothead telling you they don't know anything. Not sure how the parody is somehow more capable than real life, but I guess the saying "truth is stranger than fiction" exists for a reason.
This is definitely NOT a 1984 comparison, everyone liking the comment thinking it is, is an idiot. It's just the government fucking up, again, like they tend to do because they don't check updated records.
This is what I have figured out dealing with any bureaucracy, they basically do the same thing all day every day. Any request that requires them to do something different they will deal with by getting hostile. If they get you mad and show anger, that allows them to hang up. because when you call back someone else picks up the call and then you are their problem. They would rather you lie to them so they stay in their routine than fix the problem. They must have a sign somewhere that says, "Never deviate from the formula".
I was hearing a bunch of noises in the background during that segment -- I don't know if he was doing this, but I would've been throwing things out of frustration even while speaking to the person kindly lol.
It is never productive to lose your composure if your goal is to resolve something, then remaining calm is the best course. Even if you're dealing with someone else that has completely lost it. You staying calm may talk them down. Rationality can be contagious.
For those that didn't see the video, Louis called up the Texas State Comptroller's Office to try and find out how to get a license for something that New York requires a license for. Texas doesn't license the activity in question and the government employee who told Louis this seemed to find the idea of licensing that activity somewhat amusing.
I ran into this issue as well when I first moved to Texas. I called the Houston comptroller office to ask how I was supposed report my finances and holdings to find out if my taxes were in good standing. She said you check with my business login. I said I had no business in the state. She reminded me Texas had no income tax and no business knowing where or how much money I had. I asked if there was a mental health surcharge fee or any other type of levy and she asked what that was about. I explained that I just came from California and she laughed and said stop worrying about taxes, have a nice day and enjoy Texas!
@@CtrlAltRetreat Yeah the rest of the country donates over $40b a year of their taxes to Texas to cover healthcare, education and transport costs. Basically a state on welfare.
@@CtrlAltRetreat I rather live in a country where the government does care how much money I have, and if I don't have enough to live, I get help, than live in a place where they don't care, and if I can't afford food well tough luck. Well done NYC for managing to combine the disadvantages of both with the advantages of neither.
I don't see where his issues would remove NYC or NY from their travel wishlist. While the city has problems it still seems like a great place to visit. Just don't open a business there because that is when all the problems start.
I must commend New York State for providing the channel with such compelling tax related content. I'm literally on the edge of my seat here hearing how this episode will conclude.
You are welcome, my friend. Myself and my fellow Upstate NY'ers are honored that you at least find entertainment in the living hell we subject ourselves to, willingly, nonetheless, on a near constant basis. Incompetency is the greatest trait we pretty much demand from our elected and appointed officials. Any signs of competency, expediency, usefulness, or common sense immediately disqualify the candidate. They must possess the ingrained ability to lie, frustrate, annoy, and disappoint on a scale completely unseen by the rest of the world. We are actually due the honor of not only inspiring but coining the phrase " Worthless/Useless as a set of tits on a Bull" and keeping its Spirit alive to this very day.
It almost seemed like there was a flag on his name. Once she got it into the system she sort of seemed startled, like he was considered a bad dude or something.
I love how your personal banker can figure out there is a lien against your business but it doesn't appear on your government services account and employees working for the tax office can't find it.
To be fair, I am getting much better service from my bank than 99% of america, the moment I deposited the money from the two nonprofits in there, in mid-2021, I started getting phone calls from private bankers and treated so much better. To them, it doesn't matter whether I am the director of a non-profit or whether it is money in my personal bank account, they just see a number on some spreadsheet representing assets at the bank & and the name of the person who opened the account. So they assume I am a high net worth individual, that should be treated accordingly. It doesn't matter that the money deposited in the non-profit accounts isn't my money... to them, I am the one choosing to put it there, so they treat me like a king. I'm not going to bs you, it's pretty nice.
I had a similar situation....found out there was a lien on my biz 2 years after I dissolved a small single person corporation. Found out when refinancing my home. Turns out in California that if you are an officer of a corporation, even if corporation no longer exists and hasn't had any taxes for years, any amount owed by corporation is also a personal debt and will noted by banks during any important financial transaction. Turns out that even though the Corp had ended all equipment leases with vendors and closed, the state was still automatically charging property taxes for computers that were no longer being used and not notifying me....yes, I had to pay several years of property tax on low end equipment that was not in use for Corp not in operation and the validity of debts couldn't be questioned...
@@rossmanngroup This is why I enjoy your videos. You are a business owner, and you are still working class rather than managerial/political class. You don't look down on folks working to earn a living honestly, and you expose the corruption/incompetence of the bureaucratic system without demeaning the individuals who end up working in it. Thanks for showing us the ridiculousness of the bureaucracy in NY.
Louis, have you considered that you might want to request an interpreter? Perhaps the problem is they use language like NYC realtor English. So using normal English confuses them.
No, he can’t. He would have to sue in the SDNY where the supposed incident occurred. Although if there’s one federal court in New York that is actually good at telling New York City and New York State where to shove it, it is the SDNY.
He could... but then 5 years from now he'd find out after the fact that he lost the case and owed court fees he never showed up for but accidentally recorded him present.
It so sad that they put that lady on an incoming line with no training or tools to do her job. She seemed nice but disconnected from the rest of the organization. I was thrilled you were so patient.
You can hear me getting progressively drunker towards the end. I took 3 swigs of the whiskey Kurt from uncivil law dropped by the store during the call.
I feel for her, because her bosses put her in this position. I used to work retail, and occasionally, I'd be helping a customer with an order, and there would just be nothing in the system that would allow me to do anything. In which case, the solution is to hand it off up the chain of command, but it's possible she might not even be able to do that.
So the department that has the lien on you, has referred you to another agency that doesn't have a lien on you to discuss your lien. Sounds about right!
This reminded me of when I had a ticket rescinded. Regional DMV dept could not help me at all, the underwriting police dept couldn't help me. I had to reach out by letter to the state dept office and only found out about that by physically going to the county clerk office who happily started the rescinding process. It took 3 months and the ticket was severe enough to suspend my license. I delivered food. I had to drive around with a certified letter by the county clerks office stating the offending ticket was being rescinded and that my was license suspension was not procedurally correct and that the state dept was rescinding the ticket. According to the state dept I was legally allowed to drive. However even with the letter, a gungho cop still pulled me over because in the system my license was still suspended. He lectured me about how the letter was not enough to prevent me from getting charged for driving on a suspended license and let me go with a warning that if he saw me on the roads again I would go to jail. I continued to drive because I had rent to pay. 3 long months of no communication and paranoia until I finally got a letter in the mail confirming the ticket being rescinded. Fuck both of the cops that put me in that situation and fuck the system. I couldn't believe how broken it all was.
I had the same problem in a different way. I had two speeding tickets show up on my driving record from a city 200+ miles away that I had never even been to. The city had no records of these tickets and the state wouldn't remove it until the city rescinded. The city couldn't rescind because the system to do that needs a record of the ticket. In the end, I would have had to sue the State for them to fix whatever computer glitch caused the error.
I got one better! I had SOMEONE ELSE's driving record and tickets PUT ON MY Oregon DMV record! Even their NAME was on my OWN Oregon DMV RECORD! Heck, I was even in CA. at the time getting medical treatment so I could not have been speeding in the county either. But I ended up getting My work van towed in California. Took them a WEEK to get the record fixed. And then? I still could not get the San Jose Police department who arrested me and towed my car from the company parking lot to Release the van. Even though OREGON DMV CALLED the San Jose Police officer Directly, and told them it was a mistake Oregon DMV made, and sent over the faxes etc on their end. I had to get my VAN out buy BUYING it out of the lot and the back storage fee's! That's the kind of mess they put me in! Lets not talk about the Broken teeth, cut up feet, and what I experiinced in that San Jose jail. To hell with this clown show!
I know you feel helpless, but please vote differently based on your personal experience. And try to convince everyone else you know to vote accordingly. This is the end result of big government. Out of control bureaucracy that is insatiable and eats into real people's businesses.
The thing I find most remarkable about this phone call is how the representative takes zero responsibility on their end and treats this as a you problem. Like you get off the phone with me and go away, and you go and call this other place that's not us, despite the fact we placed this lien we forgot about. Like the fact they can't or won't even open a web browser to confirm what any member of the public can see was somehow your problem.
That is intentional. Customer Service Reps, regardless of employer, are trained to not help you. There is no profit in helping you. Literally, they make money if you go away.
@@Mike-fx4nu He offers to pay the money to make it go away. Where is the profit in not offering a bill he can actually pay? Do they make it up in volume? If you send out a thousand unjustified leans, maybe a hundred people try to figure out what is going on and maybe one of them forces a judge to force the tax department to accept money?
The irony of having a machine tell you that you can ask for an interpreter in case you don't understand english, followed by a chat with someone doing their best to not pronounce half the words they spew out.
Hey Louis, my dad had a similar issue over here in Wyoming and it just occured to me that this might be the same thing. What happened to him is, the IRS filed a "Notice of lien" with the state, but did not file an ACTUAL lien. we got the paper saying there was no liens on our property and filed it with the state to show the notice was bogus. When we asked about if they're able to file a notice of lien without filing an actual lien, we were told that they can do that, hell, anyone can do that. They do this to fuck with people, is the only reason i can see.
They send you a lien, but have no record of it in their system. You couldn't pay it off even if you wanted to. But if you don't pay it, you will receive another letter telling you they have added fines and interest.
I don't think they sent it to him, it just showed up in a database that his accountant found. Actually, in the early part of the video he specifically says they did not send it to him, in any way.
I would think this is bs if it weren't for having to deal with those morons myself. When I met my wife she lived in NY, and had state govt healthcare. I wanted to get her on my employers insurance instead and wanted to cancel the one she had in NY. Made a call was told I had to do it in person in NY. Drove from PA to NY just to be told I had to do it over the phone and just call this number. So went back home, called and was told I had to goto NY and do it there. Went back was told to call. By this time I was pissed, called the number and I would not take no for an answer this time. I think by the time i was transfered to a 5th person, and yelling at them, they said they could cancel it. Fucked up how easy it was to get on NYC state heathcare, but hell to get off. In the state hospitals they have tons of tables setup to get on state healthcare, and no info on how to get off once you get a job with insurance. No wonder the state is friggin broke!
I once had a similar issue when moving to another state. In the end, after several calls (driving back wasn't an option), I closed my bank account connected to the service and notified them that any further attempts to collect from that account should be considered fraudulent.
@c h Almost like our shitty healthcare system? How many fucking loopholes and money you have to pay when other countries don't have the same type of system we have here?
I love the fact that even though you're completely being screwed by the NY Tax dept. and have all the right to be annoyed, you try to be patient and nice to the lady on the phone. We need more people like you! I hope you won't need to deal with that problem for long, Greetings from Poland!
Right? The lady on the other end deserves to be talked nicely and is nice herself, but I'd at least show I was upset at the start to set the record straight that I am not happy about this situation. One thing I've learned dealing with customer support is if you're too nice they can treat it like there's no real problem and dismiss your call. It's important to show a bit of discontentment. However I understand he's over the issue and just wants to pay it/it's not worth his time disputing, so that's a bit different. I have a lot of time on my hands so I'd have been livid to be requested money I don't owe, and I would've made it known 😅
tbh getting pissed just leads to them hanging up on you. More than they already do.I had a cyle of that recently. But I also had marvels like "Explain to me your problem" *I sigh* (I explained it 10 times today already) "So, I need the fo..." "If it's so much work for you I can't help you" *hangs up*. That particular govt agancy seemed to be purposely staffed by assholes. They have a problem with "customers" pulling knives and running amok in their offices as well. Can't imagine why.
@@GeFlixes Well imagine an 8 hour work day of assholes screaming at you, how long would you last? Customer service is a low paying most emotionally breaking job anyone should never have to endure.
Years ago I had an arrest warrent for failing to appear in court and my drivers license cancelled. TLDR someone at the DMV screwed up and some random persons auto registration got liked to me. The only reason I found out something was up was because my car insurance company called to say they could not renew my policy because my license had been suspended. I had to personally investigate everything and go from agency to agency and eventually go to court and clear this all up. In the end I never found out what actually happened.
You are NOT the only one! This has happned to me as well! There is scam that they do to that people on the inside are well aware off. I had someone elses FULL NAME and Their drivers licence number and full info PUT ON MY Oregon DMV record. I was not so lucky. I got arrested. I got my rig towed. And my front teeth broken in San Jose. Amazingly? No charges. But the kicker? They would not let me see the Judge. When I tried to file a greivince, they ripped it out of my hand, and threated me with more jail time. This was in ~2018. It took them 8 months to get back to me form the Complaint I filed in San Jose Ca. Afterwards? Not only did I leave? So did my uncle and his many Business and real estate ventures both in San Francisco, and other surrounding areas in California.
My Alabama driver's license was suspended from Wisconsin. I went to renew after my 4 years, and they said they couldn't do it cause I was suspended. After 5 hours on the phone at the Alabama DMV talking to the Wisconsin DMV I finally cleared it all up. All this while I couldn't leave due to the warrant out for an arrest. A guy with the same name, birthdate, and year, had hit someone and run from the cops. Never showed up to court, never paid the fines, and never paid for damages. Well turns out I was a different race than that guy when they started comparing us after I was arguing I had never left the state after obtaining my driver's license. The person got out pretty good from the deal, they had to drop the suspended license and the warrant. Just for me to renew mine.
I've been planning on getting an LLC for a business I'm looking to start and everything you have documented on YT regarding your business has convinced me I need to get out of NY before I get cracking on it
That was an audit. This is different, this is a lien. This is a lien from the same people who conducted my audit, who, *throughout the 18 months they were auditing me, never told me that I owed them more money.* But that's understandable, because when I call them, they have no idea I owe them money either. Them not knowing I owe them money, or how I can pay them, doesn't stop them from placing a lien on my business, or asking for money - that they can't tell me exists, or how to pay. At some point it all starts to feel like a joke. The address where I received the audit paperwork & fines I replied to immediately is the *same address* I keep on file with them for everything else... why the fk would you place a lien when you could just _send a letter asking me to pay you?_ Even if you wanted money, this makes no sense... who the french takes someone to court before asking for payment, and who the french gets a lien on you *AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT'S FOR* , _then declines accepting payment?_ When you think about the costs involved in running this business... rent is $5000-$13500/month, payroll is $11,000-$20,000/week... $1500 is literally nothing. It's pocket change for a company that is employing 5-16 people at any given point in time.... there is no reason I would actually risk getting a lien on me over what amounts to less than one week of a manager's salary. Between moving costs, lost business, paying people to disassemble/reassemble everything, re-setting up stuff in a new space, I spent about $40,000-$50,000 to relocate my business across the country. Every now and then, I think to myself that that was the wrong thing to do, maybe I shouldn't have done that, maybe my business would be better off with that in the bank, maybe I overreacted just because I dislike it there... nope... every day... I am reminded that I should be thankful to never step foot in that state again.
@@rossmanngroup it's been said before, but your thoughts of "maybe this wasn't the right thing to do" make you sound like someone who just dropped everything to get out of a horrendously abusive relationship because they tend to have a similar train of anxious thought, then the ex tries to do something horrible in retaliation for leaving and they're reminded of why they left. I don't think NY is doing this in retaliation, but otherwise the analogy fits. Sure you lost a lot, but your future prospects are significantly less grim now
@@rossmanngroup So basically the people who say fuck you Lois...... I mean no one with a business like you have should struglle with this. The thing is, you have the reach that would help you in a situation like this. sadly not every businessman in America has, unless u are a Billionaire or have a large following.
"You apparently owe us money, but we don't know anything about it, so you probably don't. Please call someone else, we can't help you." NY sounds like a legit place to live ! 🤨
At this point it feels like enemy action. Someone has taken on your case and is applying as much pressure as they can from all sorts of directions. You can't explain this through sheer incompetence anymore. If it were incompetence the traces would show up and whenever you called someone would tell you what is up, apologize and try to fix it (badly or not, but they would). If they can't even *see* the issues you have it's most definitely hostiles.
I don't think he's being targeted. The problem, I think, is that they've built up this complex tax system and no one really knows how it works. So if something goes wrong and just pushing a few buttons doesn't clear up the issue they are clueless on how to fix it. I bet this lien and the fact that he owed money (according to them) was placed into multiple systems. So when he cleared up the money situation it was cleared from one system, but the lien still sits out there. Why it isn't part of the same system the woman was using goes back to it being a complex system developed over years. There probably is a way that she could get to the lien info but she doesn't know it. Either because it's seldom used or has been forgotten. The entire system should be scrapped and redone but that will never happen so things will continue to fall through the cracks as they put patches on top of patches.
While possible it is most likely some broken communication between systems. A friend had a warrant and could not figure out for what. It ended up suspending his license. Took months of calling the same couple of places every day. Ended up being a ticket he already paid so yeah. One system shows this. Another shows nothing. And these people are FAR from detectives.
The problem here is the woman on the phone is being “passively” helpful. This happens with government departments sometimes where if anything goes off script, they just sit on their hands and expect you to figure it out yourself.
Not living in New York, but this happened to me as well. Took numerous phone calls over a span of several weeks and even a bailiff demanding I hand over my assets before it turned out the situation was one big mistake on the part of the state health insurance agency. Did I get any compensation for countless hours lost and the stress the whole situation caused? No. Did I even get an apology? No. I'm pretty certain if I didn't risk jail and refused bailiffs demands I wouldn't even get whatever he would have impounded back.
No because if they issued an apology then you could sue them for negligence. Which might actually fix things? Even though there's a hospital who started doing an apology meeting when something went wrong and they found out it reduced 99% of their lawsuits. Surprising when you go nowhere you get really frustrated and you'r only left with a nuclear option left yeah you wouldn't use that right....
Someone in the Municipality of New York has taken what you have done for the people of New York, as well as the people of the United States, 'personally'! You find out who filed that lien and you will find out the network of people that want you quiet. Which is a bit interesting considering all the censorship our government got itself involved in for businesses just recently. Thank you again Louis!
Reminds me of "The Trial" by Franz Kafka. The story is about a man who is arrested but can never get a straight answer on what crime he is being accused of. The whole story revolves around him trying to navigate an absurd legal system to figure out what needs to be done to resolve the situation.
Over 100 billion dollars and it seems none of it was spent on organizing their bureaucracy. Please make part two as listening to this makes me feel much better about the relatively minor errors I make at my own job.
Years back a certain radio show host would mention almost every year how he was being audited by NY state even though he had moved his house and business to Florida several years earlier. Each time he had to PROVE he was no longer doing business in NY. The default position of NY was that he was still doing business in NY so he owed taxes until he proved he did not. It didn't matter how many times he proved he had left years ago and had not owed taxes in any of the years after, he was still expected to prove he didn't owe for the current tax year.
This is why people are fleeing from places like NYC and NJ and moving to better climates both business and mental. My stress level actually goes up listening to this because we've all been there at one point or another, the frustration is unreal.
The problem is that many of the people fleeing occupied NY and CA or NJ bring their same problems and ways of life to our freedom loving surrounding states. Assimilate or stay in your hell. A purple state is a well balanced state and we like it that way. We respect both sides and when you upset the balance we it makes you persona non-grata. If you move somewhere it should be to become part of that system whichever side it leans. Don’t move there and try to make it like where you fled.
@@OttoTheWeim I couldn't agree more! Yes things evolve and change is inevitable but it needs to happen at a comfortable pace and reflect the population. I saw my state change immensely, went from farms to condos and malls and pretty much was ruled by people that worked in NYC making the big money and pricing out local folks. I hate people that move somewhere and have the "it's nice but..." frame of mine, next thing you knew they create rules and like you said the same hell they came from.
@@Lugh314 As I recall, that phrase went "adequately explained". Every single department coming around in turn to hit the same target - and each unable to explain why - isn't.
Conspiracy hat: Governor Hochul is SO upset with Louis calling her out for changing the right to repair bill AFTER IT WAS PASSED BY THE STATE ASSEMBLY to text favored by the corporations the bill was meant to impact. Second conspiracy hat: Hochul is DEEP in corporate pockets, as evidenced by her most recent move to open the floodgates for charter school licenses, even though the communities are not asking for them, and even after some charter schools failed, leaving their licenses unused. - If I didn't see the (D) next to her name in media reports, I would SWEAR she is a Republican.
I am for regulation where it makes sense. Regulation to protect the consumer and regulation to help businesses do legitimate work. But these regulations in New York is NONE OF THOSE and is just government extortion.
Louis, it is passed time that you stop dealing with these people and speak to a lawyer/file a lawsuit for violating your rights due to errors in due process.
Reminds me of the time I went to import something and they asked for my company information. I said "I don't own a company" and they said "yes you do and we need you to confirm that info for the import". Gov had no clue what they were talking about (you know, the gov that gave the broker the info in the first place), saying yes of course, you have no companies under you and no expired or old businesses that match. I then had a hunch about an old business I worked with 20 years earlier that was always sloppy. Sure enough they had my name on a bank account that was not removed when I left, and not closed when the company went out of business. I spouted that info to the broker and all was well.... The gov still had no clue how to remove that info though, despite being the ones giving it out. I bet your lien is something to do with not closing out some data correctly and it will take you months to actually get it sorted because no one will know how to find it.
I had a thing like that once. Had candy I bought for a flight that wasn't finished when I got back to Canada. Intern at the customs terminal told me to put it as a commercial good. Get to talk to a custom officer, who grills me for all of 2 questions then realizes I was sent here in error. Asks me to point out the guy that screwed up so she could go correct him.
You are a soldier in the war on sanity perpetrated by the vast bureaucratic behemoth known as “public service”. Thanks so much. Keep up the great reporting!
5:38 Yup, she deliberately hung up mid-sentence. The thinking is that nobody would ever guess that you would do that while you are the one who is talking. Pretty clever way to get rid of someone who is going to take up a lot of call time.
I suspected the same thing, another tell is the fact that she immediately was able to pick up from where she left off when Louis got routed to her again. I’ve been there before, I know how this works…
@@420Cris some call systems now route the call back to you if you are available after a brief disconnect, so it may not have even been a case of her being the only one working
As a small business owner in Poland, I can totally relate to you. Running even a small business here is like running a business in NYC but it is a whole country. Fiscal law changes sometimes few time a year that even accountants can’t keep up. If u ask government what tax you should add to the base price (in Poland you have many of them, the most popular is 8% and 23%), they sometimes don’t know, but when they come to check your books few years later, then they know and you are fined for it and have to pay the diference + interests… There are many crazy and not clear laws that are broken or not working. Basically every clerk treats you as a potential thief that doesn’t want to pay taxes. They even send you letters that say that paying taxes is good and you shouldn’t avoid it because it funds roads and schools. So for me - what you are experiencing is just normal Tuesday 😉.
Poland is crazy when it comes to bureaucracy. Sign 50 pages of documents because you want to sign up for a phone. Even stupid things like buying new registration plates because the car you bought was from a different city, so you have to go to DMV be in queue for half a day to ask for new plates. Then come back, unmount your old plates, be in queue for a half day to then replace the plates w/ new ones. And ofc pay a fee. Hell even doctors appointment.... wait in a queue.... I would go full crazy if I would live in Poland full time because of this. Otherwise wonderful country, bit on the conservative/religous side but what can you do...
Don't forget about the institution of Individual Tax Law Interpretation! The ultimate shitshow! Our law is so complicated, that there is official procedure for ASKING the Tax Office on how relevant part of tax law applies to your particular case. But of course it's not as simple as "hey my situation is this and that, and this section and that section are contradictory, how should I pay taxes?". No. You have to specifically ask: "Is in situation X, this specific interpretation of tax law correct?" And they reply "yes" or "no", without any obligation of justification. And the best part? It's not binding in any way. Like they could give you interpretation, and next day come after you stating the other way is correct, and no one can do shit about it. Finally, while you could take tax office to the court... if you win, they can chose to honor the ruling, but while they officially cannot not honor it, there are no tools to MAKE THEM honor it. You can take them to the court again, but again there are no way to enforce whatever ruling you get then. I would know... tax office owes me half of what I earned in my life, I have it on three separate papers with court stamp and can at most wipe my ass with it.
Feels like Europe generally still hasn't shed stupid bureaucratic habits it acquired from centuries of centralization (monarchies, feudalism, empires): e.g. I'm told Germany, France, Spain, et al are similarly overburdened with pointless forms and petty officials for the simplest of tasks.
@@Vatharian jesus christ wtf. It's truly mindblowing how ass-backwards *everything* is. You'd think over 4000 years of technological and societal advancements would make stupid issues like all these a thing of the past...
@Louis you did make a great point about how they show the glitz and glamor. I'd like to see an AR, augmented reality of it, Times Square showing the Rents, and negatives, damages, and Poor service. ( like pop up text issues, on a visual display )
As a government worker in another country, when I was first employed, I had to take a brief course which put a heavy emphasis on our role as public workers - that is, employees of the citizens. We were told in no uncertain terms that if a member of the public needs help with anything, while we are in our official position (i.e., at work) we are to drop anything we were working on, any meetings, and either help them ourselves, or ensure they get in contact with someone who can help them. First, serve the public, second, handle your assignments. For whatever reason, the lady involved did not understand that the lien was related to your business, not your person, nor did she understand that you (and your business) used to be situated in NYC, yet currently reside in Texas. She could not find any liens against Louis Rossman in Texas, and then she gave up rather than attempting a search through the site you suggested, which would have cleared up those question marks. She felt more interested in getting you off her back than actually helping you, which is not how government employees should behave. At least outside of New York City.
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv this is just how call centers work, you need to make your stats. Don't be rude, but follow process. You're not there to solve problems, you're there to answer the phone and close tickets. She didn't have access to the document from her system. Even of she had looked it up and saw that the information he provided was true, she can't do anything with it. If it doesnt't fit into the process, send them on their way.
@@Erikk_0 You're absolutely correct. I say this as a former customer service rep. It took a little while until I finally realized that the company didn't really care about solving problems. They wanted to keep problems away from management. It's all about the process and not at all about doing anything helpful. Sadly, much of our government works this way. The system is set up in an incompetent manner, and government employees are instructed to prevent problems from reaching the top and to not work towards solutions.
You're doing the Lord's work. Please keep posting about this. These inept unelected officials need to be held accountable. Someone has clearly dropped the ball.
Louis, File a complaint with the Texas State Attorney General. A few years ago, I had the same problem with the State of California. I was suddenly being billed for $40k, for taxes on a Cali business that I had shut-down over a decade earlier. I could not get through to their office by phone. They would keep me on hold for two hours, and then, hang up. I finally filed a complaint with the Texas AG (Greg Abbot, at the time) and the threats from Cali stopped immediately.
Your patience and kindness in that call reminds me that sometimes the person on the other end of the call that we really want to scream at may be as much of a victim of the situation as us. That being said, is this just gross negligence or New York government trying to put a target on your back?
It's neither Gross Negligence nor targeting. New York is corrupt as hell, I would wager they just BS liens out on hundreds of businesses for low amounts in the hopes that a person will pay it without question.
There was a comic movie: Asterix and Obelix "12 jobs of Asterix", and one of the job which Asterix had to complete was to get simple "certificate A38", I recommend to watch just that short part of this comic movie. This is iron, solid and never ending story how we have to complete each gov requests or our needs which are dependant of the gov's office. If persons who works in gov building are like that lady you can't do nothing at that specific time, so just try to switch to next shift or change a "window" or ask them for complete other things than in between back to your main needs , round around, make a circles than you'll get what you want...or not :)
I hired an attorney to file some papers for me in the New York Court system, and I asked him how long this might take to resolve. He said months. I asked about how many months. He replied, yes, many months. 🤪
Worked on the line in tech support for an ISP like 15 years ago. It's a mix of outdated equip, not having the right tools at hand and shear incompetence due to every cost cutting procedure imaginable. Most "customer support" in general is designed to get you off the line asap, if the reason for the call is solved or if you just send the costumer to another department is almost irrelevant. You kind of need to escalate right away most times and be really stubborn to get the right answers, let alone solve the issue entirely without any help from lawyers.
When I renewed my home inspection license 16 months ago it took them 2 weeks to process my credit card payment but almost 2 more months to process my renewal. Then the day after the site showed my renewal I got a call that they didn't get my payment. So I could either pay again or they would suspend my license while they investigated. Still haven't heard back about where it went or gotten the extra refunded.
at this point im expecting to read an article in a few years about correspondence between state employees and apple about targeting this guy with harrassment
Moved from PA to NY recently for work. Thinking I'm going to start a business this year. Thanks to you I'll be making sure to keep everything possible out of this state (registering elsewhere) and get myself out of here asap. Thanks for sharing your experiences, man.
Fyi registering the business elsewhere won't really shield you from anything. If you do any work for the business within New York (and if you live there, they will assume you are), they're going to want their cut.
Get them to send you a letter confirming that you don't owe anything, then let them take you to court, with the evidence you have that judge would throw the matter out of court, and you could probably sue for damages and harassment.......Bureaucracy at its absolute best........
This is why I could never live in NYC even though there is a ton of cool stuff to explore in the city. Dealing with the government and the taxes would drive me crazy.
Sorry to hear. Definitely not surprised. Kinda sounds like RUclips. I get two of my RUclips playlists "confiscated", due to "saving/sharing(?)" another user's uploaded content. Playlists are still on timeout, due to the reply section being conveniently disconnected whenever I try to state my case. Sent emails, in vain of course. That said, Stay The Course Louis, and all that are hampered by the machinations of sociopaths.
Terry Gilliam & Franz Kafka combined, brilliant comedy! I love audio dramas like these, I just close my eyes and imagine two voices in space having the conversation. Thanks Louis.
So I followed your instructions in the video going to the NY tax website and looking up the lien. She mentioned in the latter part of the video that the number she's looking for normally starts with an E. From the website, the warrant ID does seem to follow this scheme. The number she's probably looking for in her system is E043626203W001. The data for this entry matches the screenshot in the video.
A few things to go over here 1) That is an entirely separate company. Rossmann Repair Group != Rossmann Supply Group. The actual lien for Rossmann Repair Group is E0436262032001, not E043450161W001... and that one will be gone over in part 2. I had to take a break before making another phone call to cool off. I called the county clerk, who referred me to a busy signal, that I eventually turned into a real person, who told me the proper # of it. Now I have to figure out what it's actually *FOR* since I have detailed records of all of the returns I filed those years with proof of receipt via certified mail. 2) I closed Rossmann Supply Group in mid 2013. To my knowledge, there were no sales in 2014... or even late 2013, in NY. Towards the end, after I got rid of the company eBay account, this company was selling to people outside the state, so there wasn't sales tax to collect or report in later quarters because the primary customer once I deleted the ebay store was in the midwest. 3) Anytime a company closes, you move, you stop paying tax, etc, NY pushes back as hard as humanly possible. I imagine I never fought back for that company because fighting costs money, and that company had 0 assets, 0 employees, 0 sales, and 0 future. I can't collect sales tax if I have 0 sales. No sales - no sales tax. but upon asking my accountant why we never fought back, his answer, and I quote, *"they never sent us mail asking for money, they never sent notice, or told us that lien existed."* I could've spend money to fight NYS *thinking* I had sales when my bank account and quickbooks records said I did not, but that would be a pointless waste of money... but above all, this is for a separate company.... and above all of that.... *the best part of it all, is that the same address was on file for both of these businesses, and I never got a single piece of mail for either. So even if it made sense to fight that........ which it didn't.... I would've never known there was something to fight.* The way NYS communicates, is they don't send a letter saying saying _"hey, we're curious about X"_ they just file a lien against you. I've gotten those letters before, where they ask for money, and I either send the paperwork to demonstrate I owe nothing, or if I am in error I pay it... I scan and keep every single piece of correspondence between myself & the IRS or NYS DOTAF... there is nothing from this time period. This entire thing is like breaking up with someone... and then for the next five years realizing they was badmouthing you to all their friends, roofying you, punching your cat.... it never ends. Who randomly searches themselves to see if they have warrants out on them? That's the only way I would find this, since I was never contacted and asked to pay this, it never showed up in my online portal, I have no mail from the state asking for this money. I paid tens of thousands of dollars just in sales tax every few months... there is no rhyme or reason I would allow a lien to exist on my business over what amounts to one week's salary of one employee. This is clown world.
You're a saint, I would've at least shown I was livid about being requested money I don't owe. Some discontentment. You didn't even give a hint of that. That said I understand you're over it and you don't feel this amount is worth fighting against. On principle I would've held my ground and gone "nope, not gonna pay you squat". But I have a lot of time on my hands. Anyway, exemplary display of kindness, patience and diplomacy, this doesn't create any tension, plus they have nothing to hold against you. Bless, and glad to hear this got resolved from your other comment. Can't wait to listen to the rest of this saga... 😬👍🙏
New York is a miserable state to do business. I had a single-member LLC for several years and anytime I had to file paperwork (e.g. address change, biennial statement, DBA name, certificate of status, etc.), it involved mailing or faxing a letter to Albany and then waiting weeks or months before getting any kind of indication that something happened. I probably would have had more success yelling into a well. Last summer, my wife and I finally escaped and moved out west. The difference is night and day. In Colorado, everything can be done instantly online. I was able to create a Colorado LLC within an hour. Doing New York taxes for the last time and dissolving the NY LLC is going to be a happy day for me.
Made my day. Looking forward to the next episodes. Perhaps you should simply transfer the money and then write to the court with the request for lifting the lien and then wait what happens. If you ever have time, read the "Captain of Köpenick" from Carl Zuckmayer. Same story, different time and country
A family member literally just had a "wrong address" issue in the State of Ohio. Same as this one, they used the incorrect address for years, and now they want double the amount that they were owed. This is theft!
I paid tens of thousands of dollars to my CPA & attorney for my last audit. It was a bad decision on my part to not turn it into a TV series so I could at least monetize my misery.
This is going to be an epic series of treachery, deceit, naivety, obfuscation and just plain old incompetence. Louis, continue to post the full phone calls from the VXML (voice prompts) to finish each time (redact private details, obvs) so that we can be enthralled in this journey of stupidity.
@@rossmanngroup I love how the robot voice says if you don't understand English you can get an interpreter. But only says it in English, and sometimes it's distorted to the point it's barely intelligible even if you do understand English.
@@someguy4252 Like the state sending their own mob boyz to collect... and spill some blood.. (all wounds of course safely cauterized using an Atten hot air station..)
There is a reason why expeditors are a job in the city, and the best expeditors are the ones who have decades of contacts. The right contacts are far more important than knowing the processes, because the city will change them on whim. Part of my job has me dealing with the nyc government, but I'm a nobody with no pull. At one point i was trying for a month to get help resolving issue. Ended having get a expeditor/consultant involved, just by having this guy cc on the email, got me a response and respond from a commissioner in 2 hours and the issue resolve the next day. Some companies especially in construction or property management try to hire former nyc commissioner just because the have the contacts and pull to resolve these issues.
This sounds like the issue I am having with the Oregon Revenue department. They say my business owes transit taxes but we had no employees and no taxes so the balance is zero but they say we need to file a seperate form; we already filed our quarterly no payroll report for that quarter so who do we owe, why and what... Like governments are so disorganized and then they SEND YOU TO COLLECTION OR TAKE OUT LIENS... WTF!!! If you cant even properly format or search your own records DO NOT SCREW WITH PEOPLES LIVELIHOODS!
Love it. Must see TV. I can't wait for the next episode Louis. How you stood it for so long(I'm sure it used to be a great place to live), is beyond me. Good luck resolving this.
This reminds me of a scene in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, where they go to "a place that sends you mad". Asterix and Obelix are tasked with a simple formality. Going into the administrative building and getting a form for a permit. What happens next is about the same thing that's happening to Louis all the time.
Reminds me of leaving the city I lived in because they decided to screw over the people that paid taxes to pay for people that didn't pay taxes... I moved out of the city I was living in (In mid year) and instead of paying a tax accountant hundreds of dollars (or thousands) to figure out what the hell the city taxes were... I just filed my tax return saying I didn't owe any money. Let them figure out what I owe and pay the fine for being wrong and be done with them (The fine was cheaper than the accountant)
I had something similar happen on the left coast. I have a licensed medical business with a valid business license. I had a medical vendor ask for input with a $50 compensation. Apparently, the city saw the reported payment and harassed me for years about "running a business without a valid business license". Even though it was clearly related to the usual and customary work with my already licensed business they wanted me to pay yet more thousands per year to license a business to collect $50. After seeing this, perhaps I need to look and see if my state slapped a secret lien on my business as well...
"Hey, how long has it been since we bothered Louis Rossmann?" "Man, I don't remember." "Sounds like it was too long ago. Fire up the Bureaucratic Wheel of BS and see what kind of nonsense we can generate this time."
She sounds exactly like every actor who's ever played the role of a clueless bureaucrat in a movie where someone has to navigate a bureaucracy. Incredible.
This almost sounds like them taking revenge for you talking about how much of a craphole NY really is. This is just them acting out of spite. If you have no money owed, there shouldn't be any reason for them to put a lien on your business, right?
It's solved. Find part 2 of this with timestamps here: ruclips.net/video/qFVwQCFhKSE/видео.html This was their fault the entire time, 100%
1) I paid these taxes all along. It was never applied due to clerical error.
2) I was never notified of the court case against me, the taxes they thought I owed, or the lien, because all correspondence was being mailed to an address in Maine - this is for a lien in 2016. I visited Maine twice in my entire life, in January of 2020, for lobbying.
The best part of it all, is that
a) They were accepting my tax returns the entire time, and the money was coming out of my business checking account. They cashed the checks
b) OTHER NYS department of taxation & finance mail & correspondence *WAS* coming to my registered business location - which is how I received notices for corporate tax, sales tax, my audit, etc.
So I had no reason to believe they had the wrong address for me, because they were mailing me correspondence which I had been receiving for ten years, successfully.
The solution to this is obvious. Google yourself every day to see if there is a warrant or lien on you, incase the state decides to take you to court over an error and send notification to you in another state you've never lived in or done business in
Another video is coming up with this madness. It's 40 minutes long. I did my best with timestamps for you all who want to skip through it, stay tuned.
If people still think I moved out of NYC because I'm a _rIgHt wInG GrIfTeR_ or something after these recorded phone calls, I have nothing left to say. To each their own - to those happy in NYC, enjoy it! I wish you as much happiness in my old home, as I wish for myself in my new home.
It was coming to an address you visited while lobbying..? Is someone against the right to repair pulling the strings?
wait so the lien was from 2016, and the only time you've been in Maine was in 2020?
Correct, this lien is from 7 years ago, and I first visited Maine in January of 2020. The best part about it all is that they continue to take my money while simultaneously going to court and claiming that I was not paying my taxes. Taking me to court for taxes I already paid is one thing, sending the notification that you are taking me to court to an address in a state that I have never been to, that's full circle New York style incompetence
I had a CAT "failure to file" applied to me in Ohio a few years back. I did not owe the CAT tax ($150) as I did not qualify (less than $150k in revenue for one year) - but had failed to file as they require filing. I did file tax return as sole proprietor so they had my revenue and consequently my bracket on file if they so chose to check. Ohio has a progressive CAT tax - not looking, the brackets go up to $4 million in revenue. Ohio had my previous filing and my previous year bracket.. but what they did (and do to everyone, according to the CSR I contacted on phone) is put everyone in the $4 million bracket. So they began off the bat by sending me an $11000 tax bill. I no longer lived in Ohio. I contacted them. The next bill was $12000, the next one was $15000, the next one was $17000. These arrived a few months apart, each. In between, I made contact with multiple collection agencies of disreputable character (when I would prove to each one I did not owe the tax, they would sell it to another one). Finally, I received a summons for hearing to pay the $17000 tax or to respond - although response at that time, they claimed, was pointless since a year before, they had ruled I owed it in court (I did not receive a summons to court). I sent 10 pages of evidence showing that I did not owe the tax, I agreed to pay $150 + interest if they showed I owed it. They never responded. Not sure if the judge threw it out, since it was no longer Ohio collecting but it was a private collection agency that had taken me to what I think was a civil court. I assume this was the case because Ohio knew I didn't owe it. In those documents, I also showed the collections agencies apparently committing an illegal act (making up numbers).
OH, and I looked up the court filing when I received the hearing summons, and guess what? The ruling was for something like $4000. Forgot about that. So I was getting collection bills (and had originally gotten bills from Ohio) inflated by a factor of 3-4. When I sent the response to the hearing, I sent something like 7 different notices with 7 different amounts - all different from the ruling. Some of them had a header essentially saying "at the behest of Ohio Attorney General). I had contacted by mail the OH AG twice initially, and received no response.
Also, the ability to tell the difference between collections and Ohio was impossible. I still to this day do not know if Ohio or a collector was involved. I think it was both.
Sorry if this is hard to understand - this ordeal was two years long as of last year.
I'm curious, is there any plausible reason why they would've sent it to an address in Maine. Similar company name? Similar street address? Or is it just 100% wrong?
Running a business in NYC sounds like an absolute nightmare.
never again. i did it for over a decade.
NEVER
AGAIN
you are either a brain dead new immigrant or a well established trust fund baby running a business in NY
Without connections,it sure seems like it.
It was.
California enters the chat
NY: baby come back
Louis: leave me alone
NY: I have a baby, it's yours
Louis: Paternity test says otherwise
NY: Screw you give me your money
NY sure is the toxic one in the relationship.
NY: You can blame it all on me!
Louis: I already did! Stop calling me!
This woman sounds like she’s 200 years old and is just there to stall and frustrate anyone who calls.
She sounds like the librarian from Monster's Inc.
@@zxph The librarian in that movie happened to be the hero though.
She sounds like Ethel Beavers from Parks and Recreation
You clearly don't understand how New York works - all government hiring is based on nepotism. She didn't get the job to frustrate people, or because she was qualified, she got it because of who she is related to.
You can take your business out of New York but you can't take the New York out of your business -wise man
It may be you cant even take your business out of NY ;)
California is the same exact way
NY bureaucracy : "now youse cant leave" 🚬
Rats, 28 minutes late to make this exact comment!
According to at least 1 website, he's also not allowed to take the business out of NY. At least not in their listings.
"What is to be expected of them is not treachery, or physcial cowardice, but stupidity, sabotage and an infallible instinct for doing the wrong thing."
― George Orwell
clown world stuffs. this. this is where we are headed. this.
Also reminds me of the bureaucrat aliens from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Hell, tge bureaucratic aliens might have been better. At least they'll tell you which forms you should have filed in an endless loop. In this case you get nothing but a stumped old lady or a stuttering blazed pothead telling you they don't know anything. Not sure how the parody is somehow more capable than real life, but I guess the saying "truth is stranger than fiction" exists for a reason.
orwell was right about the church
This is definitely NOT a 1984 comparison, everyone liking the comment thinking it is, is an idiot. It's just the government fucking up, again, like they tend to do because they don't check updated records.
This is what I have figured out dealing with any bureaucracy, they basically do the same thing all day every day. Any request that requires them to do something different they will deal with by getting hostile. If they get you mad and show anger, that allows them to hang up. because when you call back someone else picks up the call and then you are their problem. They would rather you lie to them so they stay in their routine than fix the problem. They must have a sign somewhere that says, "Never deviate from the formula".
The last segment is called "Louis loses it" and he's still soft-spoken and polite compared to what 99% of people would be like after so much nonsense.
I was hearing a bunch of noises in the background during that segment -- I don't know if he was doing this, but I would've been throwing things out of frustration even while speaking to the person kindly lol.
It is never productive to lose your composure if your goal is to resolve something, then remaining calm is the best course. Even if you're dealing with someone else that has completely lost it. You staying calm may talk them down. Rationality can be contagious.
For those that didn't see the video, Louis called up the Texas State Comptroller's Office to try and find out how to get a license for something that New York requires a license for. Texas doesn't license the activity in question and the government employee who told Louis this seemed to find the idea of licensing that activity somewhat amusing.
That phone call was funny for all the right reasons.
I ran into this issue as well when I first moved to Texas. I called the Houston comptroller office to ask how I was supposed report my finances and holdings to find out if my taxes were in good standing. She said you check with my business login. I said I had no business in the state. She reminded me Texas had no income tax and no business knowing where or how much money I had. I asked if there was a mental health surcharge fee or any other type of levy and she asked what that was about. I explained that I just came from California and she laughed and said stop worrying about taxes, have a nice day and enjoy Texas!
@@CtrlAltRetreat Yeah the rest of the country donates over $40b a year of their taxes to Texas to cover healthcare, education and transport costs. Basically a state on welfare.
@@CtrlAltRetreat I rather live in a country where the government does care how much money I have, and if I don't have enough to live, I get help, than live in a place where they don't care, and if I can't afford food well tough luck. Well done NYC for managing to combine the disadvantages of both with the advantages of neither.
@@seeibe Texas will give you food stamps. And unemployment so long as you can prove that you are actively pursuing a job...
Louis you're doing great work removing NYC and NY from anyone's travel wishlists. Thank you.
I don't see where his issues would remove NYC or NY from their travel wishlist. While the city has problems it still seems like a great place to visit. Just don't open a business there because that is when all the problems start.
I visited NYC a couple of times up to 2010. I was thinking it might be nice to go back again but the last several years have totally changed my mind.
@@nanoflower1 na, NY mid. Id rather vacay in Ohio at this point
visit sure stay there for more than a few days hell no.
With how they can just out of random pull your name for some kind of fine?
I'd stay the hell out of a place like that.
I must commend New York State for providing the channel with such compelling tax related content. I'm literally on the edge of my seat here hearing how this episode will conclude.
😂😂😂
You are welcome, my friend. Myself and my fellow Upstate NY'ers are honored that you at least find entertainment in the living hell we subject ourselves to, willingly, nonetheless, on a near constant basis.
Incompetency is the greatest trait we pretty much demand from our elected and appointed officials. Any signs of competency, expediency, usefulness, or common sense immediately disqualify the candidate.
They must possess the ingrained ability to lie, frustrate, annoy, and disappoint on a scale completely unseen by the rest of the world.
We are actually due the honor of not only inspiring but coining the phrase " Worthless/Useless as a set of tits on a Bull" and keeping its Spirit alive to this very day.
Love when the rep collects all your personal info and the line disconnects doesn’t feel like I got scammed at all
It almost seemed like there was a flag on his name. Once she got it into the system she sort of seemed startled, like he was considered a bad dude or something.
At this point there's probably a note of "you are probably being recorded"
I love how your personal banker can figure out there is a lien against your business but it doesn't appear on your government services account and employees working for the tax office can't find it.
To be fair, I am getting much better service from my bank than 99% of america, the moment I deposited the money from the two nonprofits in there, in mid-2021, I started getting phone calls from private bankers and treated so much better.
To them, it doesn't matter whether I am the director of a non-profit or whether it is money in my personal bank account, they just see a number on some spreadsheet representing assets at the bank & and the name of the person who opened the account. So they assume I am a high net worth individual, that should be treated accordingly.
It doesn't matter that the money deposited in the non-profit accounts isn't my money... to them, I am the one choosing to put it there, so they treat me like a king. I'm not going to bs you, it's pretty nice.
I had a similar situation....found out there was a lien on my biz 2 years after I dissolved a small single person corporation. Found out when refinancing my home. Turns out in California that if you are an officer of a corporation, even if corporation no longer exists and hasn't had any taxes for years, any amount owed by corporation is also a personal debt and will noted by banks during any important financial transaction. Turns out that even though the Corp had ended all equipment leases with vendors and closed, the state was still automatically charging property taxes for computers that were no longer being used and not notifying me....yes, I had to pay several years of property tax on low end equipment that was not in use for Corp not in operation and the validity of debts couldn't be questioned...
What kind of the Chinese eighteen hell I just read!!!!!
@@rossmanngroup This is why I enjoy your videos. You are a business owner, and you are still working class rather than managerial/political class. You don't look down on folks working to earn a living honestly, and you expose the corruption/incompetence of the bureaucratic system without demeaning the individuals who end up working in it. Thanks for showing us the ridiculousness of the bureaucracy in NY.
@@rossmanngroup
Commoners should be using Credit Unions, not banks.
Louis, have you considered that you might want to request an interpreter?
Perhaps the problem is they use language like NYC realtor English. So using normal English confuses them.
the only loss factor I'm aware of is in my sanity and bank account
@@rossmanngroup sounds great, LOUUUUUUUU
Lol
Seems like you should sue New York out of a Texas based Federal court to recover damages from their harassment and loss of productivity.
Can one actually do that ? :o
Seems like lawsuits cost time and money$
I doubt it would cover legal fee's and be worth it.
No, he can’t. He would have to sue in the SDNY where the supposed incident occurred.
Although if there’s one federal court in New York that is actually good at telling New York City and New York State where to shove it, it is the SDNY.
He could... but then 5 years from now he'd find out after the fact that he lost the case and owed court fees he never showed up for but accidentally recorded him present.
It so sad that they put that lady on an incoming line with no training or tools to do her job. She seemed nice but disconnected from the rest of the organization. I was thrilled you were so patient.
You never get to talk real criminals of these companies or offices.
Just regular tax payers doing their slave work and they probably hate them too
That phone call felt like it was 45 minutes, it must have felt like an eternity for Louis.
You can hear me getting progressively drunker towards the end. I took 3 swigs of the whiskey Kurt from uncivil law dropped by the store during the call.
@@rossmanngroup That lady sounds like a Typical Albany Civil service worker :lol:.
@@rossmanngroup good guy uncivil law!
The poor lady sounds like she is actively being crushed by the weight of the bureaucracy.
😆
That was flesh weighing her down
I feel for her, because her bosses put her in this position. I used to work retail, and occasionally, I'd be helping a customer with an order, and there would just be nothing in the system that would allow me to do anything. In which case, the solution is to hand it off up the chain of command, but it's possible she might not even be able to do that.
Oh my god, anyone who does not like working for the state or rhe government can fuck right off to work for private xompanies....
Sounded like she didn't even have internet
I learned something, it's easier to push water uphill than deal with bureaucracy. Nice one best of luck.
This series will substitute for pre workout. Nothing gets my blood pressure up and sweating like inept bureaucracy.
The best pre since the original Jacked formula. 💪
So the department that has the lien on you, has referred you to another agency that doesn't have a lien on you to discuss your lien. Sounds about right!
Watch the county clerk's office in Austin actually know how to clear six and a half year old liens from New York State.
I applaud you for being so calm, whoever picked that phone up would have gotten an earful
This reminded me of when I had a ticket rescinded. Regional DMV dept could not help me at all, the underwriting police dept couldn't help me. I had to reach out by letter to the state dept office and only found out about that by physically going to the county clerk office who happily started the rescinding process. It took 3 months and the ticket was severe enough to suspend my license. I delivered food. I had to drive around with a certified letter by the county clerks office stating the offending ticket was being rescinded and that my was license suspension was not procedurally correct and that the state dept was rescinding the ticket. According to the state dept I was legally allowed to drive. However even with the letter, a gungho cop still pulled me over because in the system my license was still suspended. He lectured me about how the letter was not enough to prevent me from getting charged for driving on a suspended license and let me go with a warning that if he saw me on the roads again I would go to jail. I continued to drive because I had rent to pay. 3 long months of no communication and paranoia until I finally got a letter in the mail confirming the ticket being rescinded. Fuck both of the cops that put me in that situation and fuck the system. I couldn't believe how broken it all was.
It's not a bug. It's a feature.
-Laws
I had the same problem in a different way. I had two speeding tickets show up on my driving record from a city 200+ miles away that I had never even been to. The city had no records of these tickets and the state wouldn't remove it until the city rescinded. The city couldn't rescind because the system to do that needs a record of the ticket. In the end, I would have had to sue the State for them to fix whatever computer glitch caused the error.
IS, still is.
I got one better! I had SOMEONE ELSE's driving record and tickets PUT ON MY Oregon DMV record! Even their NAME was on my OWN Oregon DMV RECORD! Heck, I was even in CA. at the time getting medical treatment so I could not have been speeding in the county either.
But I ended up getting My work van towed in California. Took them a WEEK to get the record fixed. And then? I still could not get the San Jose Police department who arrested me and towed my car from the company parking lot to Release the van. Even though OREGON DMV CALLED the San Jose Police officer Directly, and told them it was a mistake Oregon DMV made, and sent over the faxes etc on their end.
I had to get my VAN out buy BUYING it out of the lot and the back storage fee's!
That's the kind of mess they put me in!
Lets not talk about the Broken teeth, cut up feet, and what I experiinced in that San Jose jail.
To hell with this clown show!
I know you feel helpless, but please vote differently based on your personal experience. And try to convince everyone else you know to vote accordingly. This is the end result of big government. Out of control bureaucracy that is insatiable and eats into real people's businesses.
The thing I find most remarkable about this phone call is how the representative takes zero responsibility on their end and treats this as a you problem. Like you get off the phone with me and go away, and you go and call this other place that's not us, despite the fact we placed this lien we forgot about. Like the fact they can't or won't even open a web browser to confirm what any member of the public can see was somehow your problem.
yeah you open a browser and infect your whole system
That is intentional. Customer Service Reps, regardless of employer, are trained to not help you. There is no profit in helping you. Literally, they make money if you go away.
They're given little to no information or abilities to help you for a reason. They're just put there to be the company scapegoats.
@@binded2 if opening a browser and going to a state run website gives you a virus, I think the state has bigger problems
@@Mike-fx4nu He offers to pay the money to make it go away. Where is the profit in not offering a bill he can actually pay? Do they make it up in volume? If you send out a thousand unjustified leans, maybe a hundred people try to figure out what is going on and maybe one of them forces a judge to force the tax department to accept money?
No way I'd ever go to that corrupt 3rd world state after seeing what they have done to you
The irony of having a machine tell you that you can ask for an interpreter in case you don't understand english, followed by a chat with someone doing their best to not pronounce half the words they spew out.
Yeah, I talked with stroke survivors who were more articulate.
and they fucking tell you all that shit IN ENGLISH
Sounded either drunk or brain damaged....
She reminds me of the receptionist at Monsters INC.
It's rare that I actually laugh out loud, but I did after reading this.
The sheer incompetence of government bureaucracy will never fail to astound me.
Hey Louis, my dad had a similar issue over here in Wyoming and it just occured to me that this might be the same thing.
What happened to him is, the IRS filed a "Notice of lien" with the state, but did not file an ACTUAL lien. we got the paper saying there was no liens on our property and filed it with the state to show the notice was bogus. When we asked about if they're able to file a notice of lien without filing an actual lien, we were told that they can do that, hell, anyone can do that. They do this to fuck with people, is the only reason i can see.
They send you a lien, but have no record of it in their system. You couldn't pay it off even if you wanted to. But if you don't pay it, you will receive another letter telling you they have added fines and interest.
I don't think they sent it to him, it just showed up in a database that his accountant found. Actually, in the early part of the video he specifically says they did not send it to him, in any way.
I would think this is bs if it weren't for having to deal with those morons myself. When I met my wife she lived in NY, and had state govt healthcare. I wanted to get her on my employers insurance instead and wanted to cancel the one she had in NY. Made a call was told I had to do it in person in NY. Drove from PA to NY just to be told I had to do it over the phone and just call this number. So went back home, called and was told I had to goto NY and do it there. Went back was told to call. By this time I was pissed, called the number and I would not take no for an answer this time. I think by the time i was transfered to a 5th person, and yelling at them, they said they could cancel it. Fucked up how easy it was to get on NYC state heathcare, but hell to get off. In the state hospitals they have tons of tables setup to get on state healthcare, and no info on how to get off once you get a job with insurance. No wonder the state is friggin broke!
I once had a similar issue when moving to another state. In the end, after several calls (driving back wasn't an option), I closed my bank account connected to the service and notified them that any further attempts to collect from that account should be considered fraudulent.
I'm sorry they wasted your time like that. I know the feeling. Here's one consolation, you do not have to deal with that ever again.
@@rossmanngroup don't jinx it man
The whole state is fucked and run by idiots.
@c h Almost like our shitty healthcare system? How many fucking loopholes and money you have to pay when other countries don't have the same type of system we have here?
I dealt with something similar recently in Massachusetts. It seems endemic in nasty east coast megacities. I'm hoping for a tidal wave personally.
I love the fact that even though you're completely being screwed by the NY Tax dept. and have all the right to be annoyed, you try to be patient and nice to the lady on the phone. We need more people like you!
I hope you won't need to deal with that problem for long, Greetings from Poland!
Right? The lady on the other end deserves to be talked nicely and is nice herself, but I'd at least show I was upset at the start to set the record straight that I am not happy about this situation. One thing I've learned dealing with customer support is if you're too nice they can treat it like there's no real problem and dismiss your call. It's important to show a bit of discontentment. However I understand he's over the issue and just wants to pay it/it's not worth his time disputing, so that's a bit different. I have a lot of time on my hands so I'd have been livid to be requested money I don't owe, and I would've made it known 😅
tbh getting pissed just leads to them hanging up on you. More than they already do.I had a cyle of that recently. But I also had marvels like "Explain to me your problem" *I sigh* (I explained it 10 times today already) "So, I need the fo..." "If it's so much work for you I can't help you" *hangs up*. That particular govt agancy seemed to be purposely staffed by assholes. They have a problem with "customers" pulling knives and running amok in their offices as well. Can't imagine why.
@@GeFlixes Well imagine an 8 hour work day of assholes screaming at you, how long would you last? Customer service is a low paying most emotionally breaking job anyone should never have to endure.
You don't get anywhere in life treating people who have power over you like garbage.
Years ago I had an arrest warrent for failing to appear in court and my drivers license cancelled. TLDR someone at the DMV screwed up and some random persons auto registration got liked to me. The only reason I found out something was up was because my car insurance company called to say they could not renew my policy because my license had been suspended. I had to personally investigate everything and go from agency to agency and eventually go to court and clear this all up. In the end I never found out what actually happened.
You are NOT the only one! This has happned to me as well!
There is scam that they do to that people on the inside are well aware off.
I had someone elses FULL NAME and Their drivers licence number and full info PUT ON MY Oregon DMV record.
I was not so lucky. I got arrested. I got my rig towed. And my front teeth broken in San Jose.
Amazingly? No charges. But the kicker? They would not let me see the Judge. When I tried to file a greivince, they ripped it out of my hand, and threated me with more jail time.
This was in ~2018.
It took them 8 months to get back to me form the Complaint I filed in San Jose Ca.
Afterwards? Not only did I leave? So did my uncle and his many Business and real estate ventures both in San Francisco, and other surrounding areas in California.
You got linked to someone else's DMV record like you said.
I had my identity stolen and picked up on a kidnapping charge. Fortunately, they had a photo of the suspect.still got booked and held though
My Alabama driver's license was suspended from Wisconsin. I went to renew after my 4 years, and they said they couldn't do it cause I was suspended. After 5 hours on the phone at the Alabama DMV talking to the Wisconsin DMV I finally cleared it all up. All this while I couldn't leave due to the warrant out for an arrest.
A guy with the same name, birthdate, and year, had hit someone and run from the cops. Never showed up to court, never paid the fines, and never paid for damages. Well turns out I was a different race than that guy when they started comparing us after I was arguing I had never left the state after obtaining my driver's license.
The person got out pretty good from the deal, they had to drop the suspended license and the warrant. Just for me to renew mine.
DMV's shouldn't exist.
I've been planning on getting an LLC for a business I'm looking to start and everything you have documented on YT regarding your business has convinced me I need to get out of NY before I get cracking on it
Wtf?? Didn’t we watch a video a few months back of you handling this?? How’re they still trying to put their hands in your pockets?
It’s New York… that’s all I can say.
That was an audit. This is different, this is a lien. This is a lien from the same people who conducted my audit, who, *throughout the 18 months they were auditing me, never told me that I owed them more money.*
But that's understandable, because when I call them, they have no idea I owe them money either.
Them not knowing I owe them money, or how I can pay them, doesn't stop them from placing a lien on my business, or asking for money - that they can't tell me exists, or how to pay.
At some point it all starts to feel like a joke. The address where I received the audit paperwork & fines I replied to immediately is the *same address* I keep on file with them for everything else... why the fk would you place a lien when you could just _send a letter asking me to pay you?_ Even if you wanted money, this makes no sense... who the french takes someone to court before asking for payment, and who the french gets a lien on you *AND DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT'S FOR* , _then declines accepting payment?_
When you think about the costs involved in running this business... rent is $5000-$13500/month, payroll is $11,000-$20,000/week... $1500 is literally nothing. It's pocket change for a company that is employing 5-16 people at any given point in time.... there is no reason I would actually risk getting a lien on me over what amounts to less than one week of a manager's salary.
Between moving costs, lost business, paying people to disassemble/reassemble everything, re-setting up stuff in a new space, I spent about $40,000-$50,000 to relocate my business across the country. Every now and then, I think to myself that that was the wrong thing to do, maybe I shouldn't have done that, maybe my business would be better off with that in the bank, maybe I overreacted just because I dislike it there... nope... every day... I am reminded that I should be thankful to never step foot in that state again.
🤬🤬🤬
@@rossmanngroup it's been said before, but your thoughts of "maybe this wasn't the right thing to do" make you sound like someone who just dropped everything to get out of a horrendously abusive relationship because they tend to have a similar train of anxious thought, then the ex tries to do something horrible in retaliation for leaving and they're reminded of why they left.
I don't think NY is doing this in retaliation, but otherwise the analogy fits. Sure you lost a lot, but your future prospects are significantly less grim now
@@rossmanngroup So basically the people who say fuck you Lois......
I mean no one with a business like you have should struglle with this. The thing is, you have the reach that would help you in a situation like this. sadly not every businessman in America has, unless u are a Billionaire or have a large following.
I’m glad the state of New York is recording the call for quality assurance.
I'm sure they regularly review all their incompetent bureaucrat's performance
Godspeed in getting this nightmare fixed. Sending extra loves your way, Louis!
"You apparently owe us money, but we don't know anything about it, so you probably don't. Please call someone else, we can't help you." NY sounds like a legit place to live ! 🤨
At this point it feels like enemy action. Someone has taken on your case and is applying as much pressure as they can from all sorts of directions. You can't explain this through sheer incompetence anymore. If it were incompetence the traces would show up and whenever you called someone would tell you what is up, apologize and try to fix it (badly or not, but they would). If they can't even *see* the issues you have it's most definitely hostiles.
I don't think he's being targeted. The problem, I think, is that they've built up this complex tax system and no one really knows how it works. So if something goes wrong and just pushing a few buttons doesn't clear up the issue they are clueless on how to fix it. I bet this lien and the fact that he owed money (according to them) was placed into multiple systems. So when he cleared up the money situation it was cleared from one system, but the lien still sits out there.
Why it isn't part of the same system the woman was using goes back to it being a complex system developed over years. There probably is a way that she could get to the lien info but she doesn't know it. Either because it's seldom used or has been forgotten. The entire system should be scrapped and redone but that will never happen so things will continue to fall through the cracks as they put patches on top of patches.
@@nanoflower1 tl;dr the problem is democrat shitheads running states into the ground
While possible it is most likely some broken communication between systems.
A friend had a warrant and could not figure out for what. It ended up suspending his license. Took months of calling the same couple of places every day.
Ended up being a ticket he already paid so yeah. One system shows this. Another shows nothing. And these people are FAR from detectives.
NYS is AGGRESSIVELY harassing businesses who move out of state, trying to claw any money they can. Can't wait till they get sued into the ground.
Videos like this make it clear that every attempt to frustrate Louis will just result in even worse PR for New York.
This is totally consistent with any experience I had in dealing with NY over the years. There is a reason I live in NH now.
The problem here is the woman on the phone is being “passively” helpful. This happens with government departments sometimes where if anything goes off script, they just sit on their hands and expect you to figure it out yourself.
Not living in New York, but this happened to me as well. Took numerous phone calls over a span of several weeks and even a bailiff demanding I hand over my assets before it turned out the situation was one big mistake on the part of the state health insurance agency.
Did I get any compensation for countless hours lost and the stress the whole situation caused? No. Did I even get an apology? No. I'm pretty certain if I didn't risk jail and refused bailiffs demands I wouldn't even get whatever he would have impounded back.
No because if they issued an apology then you could sue them for negligence. Which might actually fix things?
Even though there's a hospital who started doing an apology meeting when something went wrong and they found out it reduced 99% of their lawsuits. Surprising when you go nowhere you get really frustrated and you'r only left with a nuclear option left yeah you wouldn't use that right....
Someone in the Municipality of New York has taken what you have done for the people of New York, as well as the people of the United States, 'personally'! You find out who filed that lien and you will find out the network of people that want you quiet. Which is a bit interesting considering all the censorship our government got itself involved in for businesses just recently. Thank you again Louis!
This is the price you pay for leaving New York 🤣 California is trying to do the same thing now.
Reminds me of "The Trial" by Franz Kafka. The story is about a man who is arrested but can never get a straight answer on what crime he is being accused of. The whole story revolves around him trying to navigate an absurd legal system to figure out what needs to be done to resolve the situation.
I was thinking the same thing, really reminds me if Kafka, which is totally SICK!
Over 100 billion dollars and it seems none of it was spent on organizing their bureaucracy.
Please make part two as listening to this makes me feel much better about the relatively minor errors I make at my own job.
The inefficiency is a feature.
Years back a certain radio show host would mention almost every year how he was being audited by NY state even though he had moved his house and business to Florida several years earlier. Each time he had to PROVE he was no longer doing business in NY. The default position of NY was that he was still doing business in NY so he owed taxes until he proved he did not. It didn't matter how many times he proved he had left years ago and had not owed taxes in any of the years after, he was still expected to prove he didn't owe for the current tax year.
there are no incentive to stop iguess
Rush
This is why people are fleeing from places like NYC and NJ and moving to better climates both business and mental. My stress level actually goes up listening to this because we've all been there at one point or another, the frustration is unreal.
The problem is that many of the people fleeing occupied NY and CA or NJ bring their same problems and ways of life to our freedom loving surrounding states. Assimilate or stay in your hell. A purple state is a well balanced state and we like it that way. We respect both sides and when you upset the balance we it makes you persona non-grata. If you move somewhere it should be to become part of that system whichever side it leans. Don’t move there and try to make it like where you fled.
@@OttoTheWeim I couldn't agree more! Yes things evolve and change is inevitable but it needs to happen at a comfortable pace and reflect the population. I saw my state change immensely, went from farms to condos and malls and pretty much was ruled by people that worked in NYC making the big money and pricing out local folks. I hate people that move somewhere and have the "it's nice but..." frame of mine, next thing you knew they create rules and like you said the same hell they came from.
I moved out of NY 16 years ago and I have not missed it one day.
Not likely bureaucracy.. More likely retaliation in right to repair.
And so much more I think.
My guess is that they are screwing with you for leaving the state and telling people how bad it is there.
The irony is, they reinforce everything he said with every bit of incompetence or malice
Never attribute to malice that which is equally attributable to incompetence.
@@Lugh314 As I recall, that phrase went "adequately explained". Every single department coming around in turn to hit the same target - and each unable to explain why - isn't.
Conspiracy hat: Governor Hochul is SO upset with Louis calling her out for changing the right to repair bill AFTER IT WAS PASSED BY THE STATE ASSEMBLY to text favored by the corporations the bill was meant to impact.
Second conspiracy hat: Hochul is DEEP in corporate pockets, as evidenced by her most recent move to open the floodgates for charter school licenses, even though the communities are not asking for them, and even after some charter schools failed, leaving their licenses unused.
-
If I didn't see the (D) next to her name in media reports, I would SWEAR she is a Republican.
I am for regulation where it makes sense. Regulation to protect the consumer and regulation to help businesses do legitimate work. But these regulations in New York is NONE OF THOSE and is just government extortion.
Louis, it is passed time that you stop dealing with these people and speak to a lawyer/file a lawsuit for violating your rights due to errors in due process.
Reminds me of the time I went to import something and they asked for my company information. I said "I don't own a company" and they said "yes you do and we need you to confirm that info for the import". Gov had no clue what they were talking about (you know, the gov that gave the broker the info in the first place), saying yes of course, you have no companies under you and no expired or old businesses that match.
I then had a hunch about an old business I worked with 20 years earlier that was always sloppy. Sure enough they had my name on a bank account that was not removed when I left, and not closed when the company went out of business. I spouted that info to the broker and all was well.... The gov still had no clue how to remove that info though, despite being the ones giving it out.
I bet your lien is something to do with not closing out some data correctly and it will take you months to actually get it sorted because no one will know how to find it.
I had a thing like that once. Had candy I bought for a flight that wasn't finished when I got back to Canada. Intern at the customs terminal told me to put it as a commercial good.
Get to talk to a custom officer, who grills me for all of 2 questions then realizes I was sent here in error. Asks me to point out the guy that screwed up so she could go correct him.
When the Walmart greeter gets a job at NYC Tax and Rev came in to work high a fuq!!!
As this video progressed, I felt slowly drawn and quartered.
I've said this before - I'm glad you're here in Texas.
Thanks for helping us get moved in!!!
Sounds like a lien is in the court system but out of their tax system. It seems that they don't reconciliate their tax systems with the court systems.
If the systems were joined, then it would be harder for NYC to fleece the state. They actively fight doing anything rational, trust me.
they are together, but Mr R. is getting bad service.
Maybe if you connected them like in the movie Brazil...
You are a soldier in the war on sanity perpetrated by the vast bureaucratic behemoth known as “public service”. Thanks so much. Keep up the great reporting!
5:38 Yup, she deliberately hung up mid-sentence. The thinking is that nobody would ever guess that you would do that while you are the one who is talking. Pretty clever way to get rid of someone who is going to take up a lot of call time.
Too bad she was apparently the only person working since she picked right back up lol.
I suspected the same thing, another tell is the fact that she immediately was able to pick up from where she left off when Louis got routed to her again. I’ve been there before, I know how this works…
@@420Cris some call systems now route the call back to you if you are available after a brief disconnect, so it may not have even been a case of her being the only one working
As a small business owner in Poland, I can totally relate to you. Running even a small business here is like running a business in NYC but it is a whole country. Fiscal law changes sometimes few time a year that even accountants can’t keep up. If u ask government what tax you should add to the base price (in Poland you have many of them, the most popular is 8% and 23%), they sometimes don’t know, but when they come to check your books few years later, then they know and you are fined for it and have to pay the diference + interests… There are many crazy and not clear laws that are broken or not working. Basically every clerk treats you as a potential thief that doesn’t want to pay taxes. They even send you letters that say that paying taxes is good and you shouldn’t avoid it because it funds roads and schools. So for me - what you are experiencing is just normal Tuesday 😉.
Poland is crazy when it comes to bureaucracy.
Sign 50 pages of documents because you want to sign up for a phone.
Even stupid things like buying new registration plates because the car you bought was from a different city, so you have to go to DMV be in queue for half a day to ask for new plates. Then come back, unmount your old plates, be in queue for a half day to then replace the plates w/ new ones. And ofc pay a fee.
Hell even doctors appointment.... wait in a queue....
I would go full crazy if I would live in Poland full time because of this. Otherwise wonderful country, bit on the conservative/religous side but what can you do...
Don't forget about the institution of Individual Tax Law Interpretation! The ultimate shitshow!
Our law is so complicated, that there is official procedure for ASKING the Tax Office on how relevant part of tax law applies to your particular case. But of course it's not as simple as "hey my situation is this and that, and this section and that section are contradictory, how should I pay taxes?". No. You have to specifically ask: "Is in situation X, this specific interpretation of tax law correct?" And they reply "yes" or "no", without any obligation of justification.
And the best part?
It's not binding in any way. Like they could give you interpretation, and next day come after you stating the other way is correct, and no one can do shit about it.
Finally, while you could take tax office to the court... if you win, they can chose to honor the ruling, but while they officially cannot not honor it, there are no tools to MAKE THEM honor it. You can take them to the court again, but again there are no way to enforce whatever ruling you get then.
I would know... tax office owes me half of what I earned in my life, I have it on three separate papers with court stamp and can at most wipe my ass with it.
Feels like Europe generally still hasn't shed stupid bureaucratic habits it acquired from centuries of centralization (monarchies, feudalism, empires): e.g. I'm told Germany, France, Spain, et al are similarly overburdened with pointless forms and petty officials for the simplest of tasks.
@@Vatharian jesus christ wtf. It's truly mindblowing how ass-backwards *everything* is. You'd think over 4000 years of technological and societal advancements would make stupid issues like all these a thing of the past...
@@Vatharian Why do you live in Poland? If you have to deal with this?
@Louis you did make a great point about how they show the glitz and glamor. I'd like to see an AR, augmented reality of it, Times Square showing the Rents, and negatives, damages, and Poor service. ( like pop up text issues, on a visual display )
As a government worker in another country, when I was first employed, I had to take a brief course which put a heavy emphasis on our role as public workers - that is, employees of the citizens. We were told in no uncertain terms that if a member of the public needs help with anything, while we are in our official position (i.e., at work) we are to drop anything we were working on, any meetings, and either help them ourselves, or ensure they get in contact with someone who can help them. First, serve the public, second, handle your assignments.
For whatever reason, the lady involved did not understand that the lien was related to your business, not your person, nor did she understand that you (and your business) used to be situated in NYC, yet currently reside in Texas. She could not find any liens against Louis Rossman in Texas, and then she gave up rather than attempting a search through the site you suggested, which would have cleared up those question marks. She felt more interested in getting you off her back than actually helping you, which is not how government employees should behave.
At least outside of New York City.
This is not NYC this is NYS though to be honest NYS is just as bad as NYC
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv NYS is just a vassal of NYC
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv this is just how call centers work, you need to make your stats. Don't be rude, but follow process.
You're not there to solve problems, you're there to answer the phone and close tickets.
She didn't have access to the document from her system. Even of she had looked it up and saw that the information he provided was true, she can't do anything with it.
If it doesnt't fit into the process, send them on their way.
@@Erikk_0 You're absolutely correct. I say this as a former customer service rep. It took a little while until I finally realized that the company didn't really care about solving problems. They wanted to keep problems away from management. It's all about the process and not at all about doing anything helpful.
Sadly, much of our government works this way. The system is set up in an incompetent manner, and government employees are instructed to prevent problems from reaching the top and to not work towards solutions.
@@Erikk_0 so she has no function?
You're doing the Lord's work. Please keep posting about this. These inept unelected officials need to be held accountable. Someone has clearly dropped the ball.
Held accountable as in fired. And blackballed from ever being employed by government again.
Louis, File a complaint with the Texas State Attorney General. A few years ago, I had the same problem with the State of California. I was suddenly being billed for $40k, for taxes on a Cali business that I had shut-down over a decade earlier. I could not get through to their office by phone. They would keep me on hold for two hours, and then, hang up. I finally filed a complaint with the Texas AG (Greg Abbot, at the time) and the threats from Cali stopped immediately.
Your patience and kindness in that call reminds me that sometimes the person on the other end of the call that we really want to scream at may be as much of a victim of the situation as us.
That being said, is this just gross negligence or New York government trying to put a target on your back?
You could hear her surprise when Louis wished her a good day. I bet that rarely happens...
An error from 2016 sounds like negligence more than being a target.
Target implies that they're intentionally trying to attack, rather than just generally napalming everything
It's neither Gross Negligence nor targeting.
New York is corrupt as hell, I would wager they just BS liens out on hundreds of businesses for low amounts in the hopes that a person will pay it without question.
@@blahorgaslisk7763 I mean have you dealt with New Yorkers?
Best advice I can give is this: TAKE THIS TO YOUR LOCAL NEWS STATION! Once this airs and people in NY notice you’ll see it vanish.
There was a comic movie: Asterix and Obelix "12 jobs of Asterix", and one of the job which Asterix had to complete was to get simple "certificate A38", I recommend to watch just that short part of this comic movie. This is iron, solid and never ending story how we have to complete each gov requests or our needs which are dependant of the gov's office. If persons who works in gov building are like that lady you can't do nothing at that specific time, so just try to switch to next shift or change a "window" or ask them for complete other things than in between back to your main needs , round around, make a circles than you'll get what you want...or not :)
I hired an attorney to file some papers for me in the New York Court system, and I asked him how long this might take to resolve. He said months. I asked about how many months. He replied, yes, many months. 🤪
Worked on the line in tech support for an ISP like 15 years ago. It's a mix of outdated equip, not having the right tools at hand and shear incompetence due to every cost cutting procedure imaginable. Most "customer support" in general is designed to get you off the line asap, if the reason for the call is solved or if you just send the costumer to another department is almost irrelevant. You kind of need to escalate right away most times and be really stubborn to get the right answers, let alone solve the issue entirely without any help from lawyers.
i spent two hours on hold to make sure dell would repair my dads laptop. they disconnected once in there lol. fuck customer service.
@@phgamer4393 The big companies give zero effs about customer service, sadly. They could make it good, but it is not worth it to them.
When I renewed my home inspection license 16 months ago it took them 2 weeks to process my credit card payment but almost 2 more months to process my renewal. Then the day after the site showed my renewal I got a call that they didn't get my payment. So I could either pay again or they would suspend my license while they investigated. Still haven't heard back about where it went or gotten the extra refunded.
at this point im expecting to read an article in a few years about correspondence between state employees and apple about targeting this guy with harrassment
Moved from PA to NY recently for work. Thinking I'm going to start a business this year. Thanks to you I'll be making sure to keep everything possible out of this state (registering elsewhere) and get myself out of here asap.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, man.
Fyi registering the business elsewhere won't really shield you from anything. If you do any work for the business within New York (and if you live there, they will assume you are), they're going to want their cut.
Millennials who should all be conservative by now should have nothing to do with Blue states LMAO
Government at it best!
Get them to send you a letter confirming that you don't owe anything, then let them take you to court, with the evidence you have that judge would throw the matter out of court, and you could probably sue for damages and harassment.......Bureaucracy at its absolute best........
Even if he did, you think they'd pay out?
@@michaelsorensen7567 It's a bit hard for a CITY to up and run off on a debt. Kind of due to the nature of it not being a person. Clown.
@@dakota9821 and the government never bogs things down in endless bureaucracy or appeals or just declares debts invalid.... Right? 🤦♂️
This is why I could never live in NYC even though there is a ton of cool stuff to explore in the city. Dealing with the government and the taxes would drive me crazy.
Same, I'd just visit there though, especially to stop in front of Louis' former stores locations 😁
Ironically that is why the US left the British Empire...
The rents in the city are the cherry on the stale cake.
Sorry to hear. Definitely not surprised. Kinda sounds like RUclips. I get two of my RUclips playlists "confiscated", due to "saving/sharing(?)" another user's uploaded content. Playlists are still on timeout, due to the reply section being conveniently disconnected whenever I try to state my case. Sent emails, in vain of course. That said, Stay The Course Louis, and all that are hampered by the machinations of sociopaths.
Terry Gilliam & Franz Kafka combined, brilliant comedy! I love audio dramas like these, I just close my eyes and imagine two voices in space having the conversation. Thanks Louis.
So I followed your instructions in the video going to the NY tax website and looking up the lien. She mentioned in the latter part of the video that the number she's looking for normally starts with an E. From the website, the warrant ID does seem to follow this scheme. The number she's probably looking for in her system is E043626203W001. The data for this entry matches the screenshot in the video.
upvoted. Get this to the top!
@@hintzod go go go!
This right here
I thought Rossman was 2 S's and 2 N's.
A few things to go over here
1) That is an entirely separate company. Rossmann Repair Group != Rossmann Supply Group. The actual lien for Rossmann Repair Group is E0436262032001, not E043450161W001... and that one will be gone over in part 2. I had to take a break before making another phone call to cool off. I called the county clerk, who referred me to a busy signal, that I eventually turned into a real person, who told me the proper # of it. Now I have to figure out what it's actually *FOR* since I have detailed records of all of the returns I filed those years with proof of receipt via certified mail.
2) I closed Rossmann Supply Group in mid 2013. To my knowledge, there were no sales in 2014... or even late 2013, in NY. Towards the end, after I got rid of the company eBay account, this company was selling to people outside the state, so there wasn't sales tax to collect or report in later quarters because the primary customer once I deleted the ebay store was in the midwest.
3) Anytime a company closes, you move, you stop paying tax, etc, NY pushes back as hard as humanly possible. I imagine I never fought back for that company because fighting costs money, and that company had 0 assets, 0 employees, 0 sales, and 0 future. I can't collect sales tax if I have 0 sales. No sales - no sales tax. but upon asking my accountant why we never fought back, his answer, and I quote, *"they never sent us mail asking for money, they never sent notice, or told us that lien existed."*
I could've spend money to fight NYS *thinking* I had sales when my bank account and quickbooks records said I did not, but that would be a pointless waste of money... but above all, this is for a separate company.... and above all of that.... *the best part of it all, is that the same address was on file for both of these businesses, and I never got a single piece of mail for either. So even if it made sense to fight that........ which it didn't.... I would've never known there was something to fight.*
The way NYS communicates, is they don't send a letter saying saying _"hey, we're curious about X"_ they just file a lien against you. I've gotten those letters before, where they ask for money, and I either send the paperwork to demonstrate I owe nothing, or if I am in error I pay it... I scan and keep every single piece of correspondence between myself & the IRS or NYS DOTAF... there is nothing from this time period.
This entire thing is like breaking up with someone... and then for the next five years realizing they was badmouthing you to all their friends, roofying you, punching your cat.... it never ends.
Who randomly searches themselves to see if they have warrants out on them? That's the only way I would find this, since I was never contacted and asked to pay this, it never showed up in my online portal, I have no mail from the state asking for this money. I paid tens of thousands of dollars just in sales tax every few months... there is no rhyme or reason I would allow a lien to exist on my business over what amounts to one week's salary of one employee.
This is clown world.
You're a saint, I would've at least shown I was livid about being requested money I don't owe. Some discontentment. You didn't even give a hint of that.
That said I understand you're over it and you don't feel this amount is worth fighting against. On principle I would've held my ground and gone "nope, not gonna pay you squat". But I have a lot of time on my hands.
Anyway, exemplary display of kindness, patience and diplomacy, this doesn't create any tension, plus they have nothing to hold against you. Bless, and glad to hear this got resolved from your other comment. Can't wait to listen to the rest of this saga... 😬👍🙏
New York is a miserable state to do business. I had a single-member LLC for several years and anytime I had to file paperwork (e.g. address change, biennial statement, DBA name, certificate of status, etc.), it involved mailing or faxing a letter to Albany and then waiting weeks or months before getting any kind of indication that something happened. I probably would have had more success yelling into a well. Last summer, my wife and I finally escaped and moved out west. The difference is night and day. In Colorado, everything can be done instantly online. I was able to create a Colorado LLC within an hour. Doing New York taxes for the last time and dissolving the NY LLC is going to be a happy day for me.
Assuming it works
Judging by other comments: You should prepare to prove every year that you no longer live or work in NY...
Made my day. Looking forward to the next episodes.
Perhaps you should simply transfer the money and then write to the court with the request for lifting the lien and then wait what happens.
If you ever have time, read the "Captain of Köpenick" from Carl Zuckmayer.
Same story, different time and country
Your Fiver went unnoticed! Have a nice day. -RUclips
I will be here for every episode. Good luck Louis!
This makes me so angry not only will I avoid visiting NYC, but I refuse to do business with anybody there.
Time to place a lien on New York!
A family member literally just had a "wrong address" issue in the State of Ohio. Same as this one, they used the incorrect address for years, and now they want double the amount that they were owed. This is theft!
They also will not even discuss the issue with you.
@@americaninfidel1816 100% correct! It's in the lawyers hands now, and they fought that, saying we were the ones being "less than fully cooperative"
I hope you monetize this "NY incompetence" series here on RUclips.
I paid tens of thousands of dollars to my CPA & attorney for my last audit. It was a bad decision on my part to not turn it into a TV series so I could at least monetize my misery.
This is going to be an epic series of treachery, deceit, naivety, obfuscation and just plain old incompetence.
Louis, continue to post the full phone calls from the VXML (voice prompts) to finish each time (redact private details, obvs) so that we can be enthralled in this journey of stupidity.
Will do.
@@rossmanngroup maybe consider adapting this to a novel series... theres potental here for a hit... might need to emblesh things a bit though.
I read that first part in the fake Orson Wells voice from The Critic.
@@rossmanngroup I love how the robot voice says if you don't understand English you can get an interpreter. But only says it in English, and sometimes it's distorted to the point it's barely intelligible even if you do understand English.
@@someguy4252 Like the state sending their own mob boyz to collect... and spill some blood.. (all wounds of course safely cauterized using an Atten hot air station..)
Unfortunately you will need to sue New York. They will not listen until it costs them a lot of money.
There is a reason why expeditors are a job in the city, and the best expeditors are the ones who have decades of contacts.
The right contacts are far more important than knowing the processes, because the city will change them on whim.
Part of my job has me dealing with the nyc government, but I'm a nobody with no pull.
At one point i was trying for a month to get help resolving issue.
Ended having get a expeditor/consultant involved, just by having this guy cc on the email, got me a response and respond from a commissioner in 2 hours and the issue resolve the next day.
Some companies especially in construction or property management try to hire former nyc commissioner just because the have the contacts and pull to resolve these issues.
That feels like a class action suit for "equal protection under the law" reasons. That's exactly the opposite of how government should work.
This sounds like the issue I am having with the Oregon Revenue department. They say my business owes transit taxes but we had no employees and no taxes so the balance is zero but they say we need to file a seperate form; we already filed our quarterly no payroll report for that quarter so who do we owe, why and what... Like governments are so disorganized and then they SEND YOU TO COLLECTION OR TAKE OUT LIENS... WTF!!! If you cant even properly format or search your own records DO NOT SCREW WITH PEOPLES LIVELIHOODS!
The process is the punishment
Love it. Must see TV. I can't wait for the next episode Louis. How you stood it for so long(I'm sure it used to be a great place to live), is beyond me. Good luck resolving this.
NY vs Rossmann is the perfect soap opera, it just never ends
The irony of the movie “Escape from New York.”
This reminds me of a scene in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, where they go to "a place that sends you mad". Asterix and Obelix are tasked with a simple formality. Going into the administrative building and getting a form for a permit. What happens next is about the same thing that's happening to Louis all the time.
I wanted to post the same thing, form A38, a classic that even made it into the Witcher 3 Addon as a sidequest :)
@@Spelter if only asking for A39 would fix this problem
Reminds me of leaving the city I lived in because they decided to screw over the people that paid taxes to pay for people that didn't pay taxes... I moved out of the city I was living in (In mid year) and instead of paying a tax accountant hundreds of dollars (or thousands) to figure out what the hell the city taxes were...
I just filed my tax return saying I didn't owe any money.
Let them figure out what I owe and pay the fine for being wrong and be done with them (The fine was cheaper than the accountant)
You must be a billionaire 😂
LOL I wish.... I would rather be a rich Mizer than a poor famous person
I had something similar happen on the left coast. I have a licensed medical business with a valid business license. I had a medical vendor ask for input with a $50 compensation. Apparently, the city saw the reported payment and harassed me for years about "running a business without a valid business license". Even though it was clearly related to the usual and customary work with my already licensed business they wanted me to pay yet more thousands per year to license a business to collect $50.
After seeing this, perhaps I need to look and see if my state slapped a secret lien on my business as well...
"Hey, how long has it been since we bothered Louis Rossmann?" "Man, I don't remember." "Sounds like it was too long ago. Fire up the Bureaucratic Wheel of BS and see what kind of nonsense we can generate this time."
She sounds exactly like every actor who's ever played the role of a clueless bureaucrat in a movie where someone has to navigate a bureaucracy. Incredible.
that lady sounded baked out of her mind
This almost sounds like them taking revenge for you talking about how much of a craphole NY really is. This is just them acting out of spite. If you have no money owed, there shouldn't be any reason for them to put a lien on your business, right?
Probably was a response from Louis going against big tech (apple, John Deere, etc.)
The sad thing is, it’s just the way they treat people. Any person can get this deluxe FU package from NY