I am hearing impaired, so incoming telephone calls are not an option.

This presents a bit of a problem with many internet forms that require a telephone number. Almost every one of these forms will be rejected if the field for the telephone number is left blank; a number is REQUIRED in order to submit the form.

I sometimes use a "place holder" in the telephone number slot for these web forms -- (999) 999-9999.

I operate a small business, and I am required to submit a Sales Tax report to the state. Last week I was playing "beat the clock" to get this report form submitted before the deadline; a late report incurs a minimum $50.00 penalty fee.

While checking the instructions for the written form, I noticed that there is an option for submitting the report online. "Good," I said to myself, "I will have proof that it's submitted before the drop-dead date."

So I filled in all the spaces on the form except for the telephone number, which I left blank. No joy! Clicking on "Submit" evoked the dreaded error message, whining about lack of a phone number. This, despite the fact that I had entered both my mailing address and my email address, so there was plenty of contact information if the state needs to reach me.

I entered my usual place-holder phone number, (999) 999-9999, and bada bing, the form was accepted.

Then the after-thoughts. What if some clerk at the state looks at this and decides that I'm being a smart-ass (perish the thought )? So I sent a follow-up email, explaining that phony phone number was used because I am hearing impaired and telephone is not really an option for me.

I received the following reply

quote:

Name deleted to protect the dumb-ass:

From: Florida Department of Revenue, Tallahassee

The Department has received your e-mail inquiring about the phone number when submitting the sales and use tax returns online.

Entering the phone number as (999) 999-9999 is acceptable.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Department at 850-488-6800.


<name deleted>
Tax Specialist II
General Tax Administration/ Taxpayer Services Process
Florida Department of Revenue

That whole bottom section is likely auto-added to every email they send. This part:

quote:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Department at 850-488-6800.


<name deleted>
Tax Specialist II
General Tax Administration/ Taxpayer Services Process
Florida Department of Revenue

Since every email will likely end with that, you can set that up in your email client, so you don't have to manually type it out every time.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
That whole bottom section is likely auto-added to every email they send. This part:

quote:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Department at 850-488-6800.

<name deleted>
Tax Specialist II
General Tax Administration/ Taxpayer Services Process
Florida Department of Revenue

Since every email will likely end with that, you can set that up in your email client, so you don't have to manually type it out every time.

Yeah, probably true. I too, have some information that is added to the bottom of every email that I send. However, before clicking on "Send," I actually take the time to proof-read what is going to be sent, and edit anything that doesn't make sense in the context of that email message.

I guess you're not that hearing impaired enough to use the TTT (?) kind of phone that they offer for hearing impaired people?

I file in about 35 states for my clients. I also did a Florida return this am as it is due tomorrow & has to be setup to pay a day in advance. Florida has the most unautomated & confusing return of any state. North Carolina & Arkansas are also different from other states. The worst state is Texas with Illinois close behind. In Texas I have to file in about 300 jurisdictions including libraries, fire departments, police departments, Etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

I guess you're not that hearing impaired enough to use the TTT (?) kind of phone that they offer for hearing impaired people?

I can use Florida's Relay Service for outgoing calls; however, these web forms want a phone number to reach me with incoming calls. The Relay Service doesn't do that job for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:

I file in about 35 states for my clients. I also did a Florida return this am as it is due tomorrow & has to be setup to pay a day in advance. Florida has the most unautomated & confusing return of any state.

Not sure which Florida return you refer to. I was filing the form for Sales Tax. In my case, it's very simple.

First line: Total sales, $$$$$.¢¢

Second Line: Exempt amount, $$$$$.¢¢ Same as first line. I am strictly wholesale, all sales are to retail stores that in turn deal with the end user customers, so I have no involvement with sales tax. I do have to file the form to show zero sales tax; failure to file the form that asserts that I do not owe anything would result in a minimum fifty dollar penalty.

Third Line: Sales tax collected and payable to the state, $0.00

Nothing at all complicated about this, other than the requirement to provide a telephone number for contact. That field should be optional if postal address and email address are provided.

'Nother thing: even if I had normal hearing and could receive telephone calls, if the state wants to tell me something about sales tax, I would want it in writing, not via a phone call.

quote:

Not sure which Florida return you refer to. I was filing the form for Sales Tax

Retail sales to about 60 counties with surtax & no nexus in Florida

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:

Retail sales to about 60 counties with surtax & no nexus in Florida

Yes, that can be a royal pain. Not sure whether this is still the case, but in the past there was at least one county where there were two different sales tax rates, depending on municipality.

quote:

The worst state is Texas

I can see it being a PITA.

Base sales tax of 6.25% PLUS counties (254 of them) and cities can decide if they want to add an additional 2% on it. All in all 815 sales tax jurisdictions.

Arkansas is the same way, with taxes varying by county, and then by city within each county.

Just not as many counties and cities as Texas, so on a smaller scale.

I did business in all 50 states and sometimes that business included some equipment. Not much but some. I didn't want to get involved in all the sales tax BS, so I just did an invoice stating the equipment was free and only charged labor...cough cough.

Having high expectations or in fact any positive expectations of the Dept. of Revenue is unwise.

My takeaway from the original post was pretty good service from a government clerk. You had to put in a placeholder number in a required field because of your circumstances and sent the Dept. of Revenue an email explaining what and why you did what you did. Not only did someone actually reply to your email but they accepted the deviation from their form because of your circumstances. So, the response also contained some boilerplate inconsistent with your circumstance which was the subject of the matter. I'd let that slide and be pretty satisfied with the whole thing. Just sayin......

My dad worked for FL DOR after he sold his irrigation business in So Fla and retired in Tallahassee...kept him busy, decent benefits.

He had some pretty funny stories.

quote:

Originally posted by kho:

I'd let that slide and be pretty satisfied with the whole thing. Just sayin......

Well, this is the section to "Pitch Your Bitch," so I'm just following instructions.

Actually, the department is one of many, that respond with a phone number for customer service, after I have stated, very clearly, that I am hearing impaired and telephone is not an option. It wasn't so bad the first time, nor the second time, but the never-ending pattern does get annoying. I'm old, and set in my ways, and grouchy.

If my hearing gets worse, I will still have a phone just for texting and email. Government entities and companies still need options for "no phone" or "text only."

quote:

Originally posted by OneWheelDrive:

Government entities and companies still need options for "no phone" or "text only."

That should be a requirement! At least, an option for email instead of telephone.

Text?

Hell, there are still government agencies that primarily send information by fax.

Maybe in another 40 years they'll come around to these newfangled text messages.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by kho:

I'd let that slide and be pretty satisfied with the whole thing. Just sayin......

Well, this is the section to "Pitch Your Bitch," so I'm just following instructions.

Actually, the department is one of many, that respond with a phone number for customer service, after I have stated, very clearly, that I am hearing impaired and telephone is not an option. It wasn't so bad the first time, nor the second time, but the never-ending pattern does get annoying. I'm old, and set in my ways, and grouchy.

My bigger bitch is that if you actually try to call one of those phone numbers you can never get through to anyone. The text option makes a ton of sense