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| Tax Refund Offset Season |
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It’s about that time of year again: tax season, the busiest time of year for Revenue and also a great opportunity for your agency to use tax refunds to pay off liabilities, also known as offsets.
For your agency to fully benefit from offset season, please send your liabilities to us by January 2009. The sooner we receive your liabilities, the better chance your agency has to benefit from refund offsets.
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| More Information, Please! |
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 In order for us to provide you with the best possible customer service, we need your help.
If we are doing full (unrestricted) collection activity for you, we would like more debtor information so that we can collect the debt more efficiently. The more details you can give us on your debtors, the more it will help in our collection efforts.
Examples of information that can expedite our research include:
• bank sources;
• short description of the debt (i.e. book fees, tuition, what term, etc.); and
• contact information you may have for the debtor.
Including additional information, such as a short description of the debt, could reduce the number of calls between our agents and your agency. This may also help us to resolve the debt faster and in fewer calls with the debtor.
If you use the Collection Account Assignment form (150-602-022), enter the debtor information on line 12 (A/I), Additional Information.
For electronic files, this information is entered into a separate record. It’s called an "O" (comment) record. The field format of the “O” record matches the "A" (add) record. The "O" record must contain the same Social Security number or agency account number that’s in the “A” record. The additional information is entered into the address fields (field 29 and field 30) of the “O” record. These two fields hold up to 30 characters each, including spaces. If your comment is longer, you can create as many "O" records as you need.
If you have never used this feature, please call 503-945-8771 or e-mail us.
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| Hey, Did You Know? |
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OAA has two positions dedicated to resolving account issues. You can e-mail Dorothy Ellis or Stella Tanner with your accounting questions. You may want to paste their e-mail address into your contacts list. Dorothy and Stella can help you with:
- account resolution issues
- credit balances
- payment advices
- accounting discrepancies
- misapplied payments
- recalling accounts
- and more . . .
FYI – The following acronyms will help you understand the information on the monthly Payment Report you receive from OAA:
| APOR | Apportionment | | CCP | Credit Card Payment
| | CCK | Cancelled Check | GPMT
| Garnishment Payment | | OA(YR) | Offset from another OAA Liability | OFFS
| Offset | NFS
| Non-sufficient Funds | PADV
| Payment Advice | PMT
| Payment | RADV
| Reverse Payment Advice | REF
| Refund | | WH(YR) | Offset from another DOR Liability |
Do you have a question that you would like to share in the OAA Communicator? Please e-mail us, oaa.communicator@state.or.us.
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| Don't judge a book by its cover |
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An OAA agent had an account that first appeared to be uncollectible. Mail was returned to OAA due to an old address. The debtor was on Social Security disability insurance and received a small monthly check from the government.
Determined to succeed, the agent used other research tools and found a more current address for the debtor. The agent sent another demand letter to the new address. As a result of this letter, the debtor called the agent who was able to educate the debtor on his fine and on the possible consequences of not paying the debt. Within the week, the debtor paid his account in full—$3,243!!
Another recent successful collection by an OAA agent involves an involuntary payment of $4,380. This was collected from a debtor who lives out of state, and the account is now paid in full.
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| Chris' Corner |
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Thanks for the memories…. I am leaving the Other Agency Accounts program but staying with the Department of Revenue working in the Payroll Program. I was offered an opportunity to manage the Business Compliance and Investigation Unit and help that program develop and grow.
I am sad to leave the wonderful folks I have had the honor of working with and learning from on a daily basis but am confident they will continue the good work they do for all of you, our client agencies. I am amazed at the quality of work and dedication the OAA program folks have toward the collection of your accounts.
I feel honored to have been a part of this program the past seven years. The program’s commitment to collection and customer service has not changed and we value your feedback. We will be hiring my replacement in the near future and an announcement of who that is will most likely be in your next newsletter.
You can continue to count on us to provide collections that fund your programs in the future.
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| Subscribe to OAA Newsletter |
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Subscribe to the OAA Communicator.
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| Contributors to this Issue |
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Chris Gasperini, Jan Jackman, Marilyn Lamberson, Kelli Welch, Vickie Bishop, Danette Benjamin, and Debbie Funk.
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