A MAN was recently given $31,000 after insisting for years that he didn’t owe back taxes.
He had been locked in a battle with his town after it requested he pay up a whopping $300,000.
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In Billerica, Massachusetts, about 25 miles northwest of Boston, Bill Griggs had been trying to prove for eight years that he didn’t owe the outstanding amount, per CBS News.
It started in 2022 after the town claimed the six-figure balance.
Griggs hadn’t paid taxes at all since 2017, accusing the town of incorrectly overtaxing the land his farm rested on since 1997.
Billerica had valued the land at $1.2 million, something the farmer claimed was an over-assessment, as the farm is covered by the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program in the state.
That means the land can only be used for agriculture.
Griggs emphasized that converting it into anything but agricultural use would require a three-fourths approval vote in the Massachusetts House and Senate while speaking with the outlet.
“That’s what it allows to be the lower [tax] rate because it is preserved open land,” the farmer explained.
“It became just unsustainable when you tax so heavy. You run out of money.”
CLOSER LOOK
Not long after Billerica demanded the $300,000 in back taxes, a member of the town’s Select Board, Dina Favreau, began looking into Griggs’ claims further.
She quickly noted a discrepancy, with part of the land being charged under commercial rates for taxes rather than the rates under the APR.
“This part of the land and the parking lot was actually being taxed at commercial rates, which was completely incorrect,” Favreau told CBS News.
Additional evaluations and assessments were conducted soon afterward, and earlier in May, a new determination was reached.
“We voted Monday night to accept the corrected evaluations and assessments, and to take the necessary steps to make Mr. Griggs whole,” Favreau added.
What are back taxes?
Back taxes account for any amount of money owed to the local, state, or federal government from any previous tax year.
They are required when a taxpayer neglects to pay part or all of their tax liability by the allotted filing deadline.
This year, that deadline was April 15, with automatic extensions for select Americans.
Requests for extension could also have been filed.
Top reasons for back taxes include the following:
- Underreporting income
- Errors on tax returns
- A misunderstanding of tax regulations
- Failure to file a tax return
Instead of the $300,000 owed, Griggs was awarded a refund worth $30,951.
Griggs said that it would free him and his family up to “purchase some supplies and pay some bills.”
“Hopefully, we will be able to run some of the fields a little better now,” the farmer added.
TAX TURMOIL
A woman wasn’t as fortunate as Griggs recently with an outstanding $15,000 in back taxes from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The woman, an Atlanta resident, claimed the IRS wanted the cash on behalf of her 93-year-old mother.
She was informed of the back taxes by a local tax service and paid the business owners the entire amount to help get her mom out of debt.
“I want to take care of her the way she took care of us,” the woman told ABC affiliate WSB-TV earlier this year.
According to her, Whitlan Tax Service wanted cash for the back taxes owed to the IRS through Zelle, Cash App, or a wire transfer.
Bank statements provided to the outlet showed regular deposits to the owner of the tax service business’s account.
Once the last deposit was made, the woman said she could not contact Whitlan Tax Service.
The IRS also reported that it didn’t obtain a single payment for the back taxes.
The Secretary of State’s Office later dissolved the tax service, noting that the owners had no legal approval to operate.
It’s unclear if the woman has since gotten her money back.
She did tell WSB-TV that the owner later contacted her and promised a refund last month.
The IRS also recently warned millions of Americans to secure $946 “unclaimed” tax refunds.
It also spoke out on the speed of tax returns this year and why average refunds have increased since 2024.
