Letters

Letters to the editor

TBO.com
Published: March 29, 2012

Tax fraud

Upon reading your article in Highlands Today March 22 about Nancy Ruble becoming a tax fraud consumer, I would like to let you know that my husband and I have also become involved in the same situation.

We had our taxes done by an accountant (Kent Services) and when he tried to send it electronically we were rejected by the IRS, as someone had already used my husband's Social Security number and filed a report for a refund on Feb. 3. That is all the information IRS would give to us.

Since then, I have spent many, many hours on the phone, online and visiting businesses that had to be contacted by us; police department, credit card bureau, Social Security office, banks, stock brokers, FTC office, IRS department, and of course the many forms online that had to be filled out. It is very exhausting at the end of each day for the time you have involved.

According to the IRS, we had to send our return by certified mail with a copy of the theft report on top. Now it could take 90 days or up to two years to try and resolve this matter and receive our refund.

They need to somehow give everyone a password on their W-2s or some other form of protection to try and put a stop to this kind of fraud.

We have filed a joint return for the last 30 years or more and have no dependents and the same jobs, which should throw a red flag on someone filing a single form with several kids as dependents and a short form. But apparently no one is paying attention, and no audits are being done of any kind.

Thank you for hearing me out, and if there are any other suggestions you could advise us on it would be appreciated.

Daniel and Carolyn Leamon

Sebring

Stand your ground

I am a home-based gun dealer in Lake Placid and I'm a staunch supporter of the Stand Your Ground Law.

The killing of Trayvon Martin was a terrible tragedy that could have easily been avoided.

George Zimmerman broke the law when he continued to follow Trayvon, even after the police dispatcher told him not to do that.

Florida Castle Doctrine states we are allowed to defend ourselves or others when faced with threats of great bodily harm. Also, we are allowed to defend our homes and property.

But we are not deliberately allowed to create a situation where deadly force would be needed to protect ourselves. By pursuing a person, you now force that person to defend themselves. George Zimmerman is guilty of having done this.

If Zimmerman wanted to be a police officer, he should have joined the force. Instead, he is responsible for the needless death of a young man.

He now wants to hide behind a law which he blatantly disregarded.

We should not attack a good law because someone chooses to abuse it. It seems like the whole country is subject to home invasions, car-jackings and deadly assaults.

With the Castle Doctrine in place, we have the rights not to be a victim, the details of which to be reported on the 6 o'clock news.

All shootings should be fully investigated. When the facts determine a shooting is illegal (as I'm sure will be found in Trayvon Martin's case), then the shooter should be charged and prosecuted.

Do not condemn a law because someone chooses to ignore it.

Scott Daisey

Marksmen's Corner

Lake Placid