The College Network-collecting sales tax

Complaintoomuch · Dec 16, 2008

Yeah I'm thinking that's what I would do with it too. If they didn't collect sales tax umpteen years ago then that's sorta on them, not you. Still have your contract with the dollar amounts on it? Keep it in case they try to pursue this. You agreed to a certain amount, I could be wrong but I don't think they can come in later and make you pay more for their mistake. nice try though.

Sorry, you have to pay it. The statute of limitations allows TCN to go after the taxes, even if it has been years ago. if you don't pay it, you'll end up in collections.

Complaintoomuch · Dec 16, 2008

Hello all
I too have just received a notice (Dec 2008) that I have been turned over to a collection agency for taxes due.
This is ridiculous. It's almost 2009, I paid them off completely in 2004 (almost 5 yrs after the fact) and how can they come back at me for taxes when they were operating illegally in the state of Texas. These people own a business and know there are rules, regulations and laws that all vary from state to state. They knew they were providing a service (counseling, etc) and selling a product (modules).
I signed a contract with this company some time in 2003 and paid off my contract in 2004. I met my obligation.
After deciding to change my degree plan, I contact TCN and was told that they were going to charge me $200 to review my transcripts.
I was also told that if I needed to update any of the study modules, that I could send them back, but would have to pay something like $25 to get an updated module.
What BS.... the sales rep and his wife who led seminar told us nothing of these hidden costs...in fact, they painted a very rosey picture of how wonderful TCN is, but left out the very important details of costs to you that you would not find out until further down the line.
I would certainly avoid doing business with this group and would be leery of others who provide this type of service.
I am checking into this matter now, with plans to contact the Texas State Attorney General, State Comptroller, BBB and a tax attorney.
If anyone hears or knows of any actions or information regarding this situation, please post here and lets spread the word to EVERYONE affected by this mess.
My advice to everyone is to contact ALL of the people above in writting. Once they see a trend of 1000's of people in the state of Texas complaining about this issue, perhaps someone in power will take a stance, but if you don't write, they won't know you and many others has a problem with this.
TCN did NOT operate withing the confines of Texas Law. On the State Comptrollers website, there is information for businesses to determine if their business MUST collect taxes and how to pay them and if you do NOT understand the rules, you can contact the comptrollers office to determine if you must collect taxes, TCN simply failed to follow through on this as a responsible business should have.
My one questions is, when did this going into law in the state of Texas. As I am not a business expert, I thought that as long as a person in Texas (or other state) bought something from another state that there were no sales tax.... I believe at somepoint, alot of states were changing that because of loss of sales via internet..... and perhaps I am complelely off base.... maybe there is an expert out there....
Perhaps, TCN will let us return their product for a full refund.
As I learn more on this matter, I will post as well, but I am NOT paying this until I know my rights and I am consider filing suit against them (if possible), because now they are going to hurt my excellent credit with this mess that they created.
Please keep posting on this matter, I want to hear more about other peoples dilemma.

Boy, are you sadly mistaken. There is no charge for a transcript evaluation. To get updated modules costs nothing, they charge $25 if you call to request to exchange one module for another (Soc for Psych), or if your loan went into default because you decided not to pay. nevermind the contract you signed, its only a legal document. Its not up to TCN to do the work for you, its up to you.

Esperanza1260 · Dec 16, 2008

I can't speak for any other State but in Texas you don't have to pay; and if they try to ruin your credit you can file suit against them. I finally got a copy of the letter they've been sending people in Texas (they had called me on the phone) and I've reported them to the Tax Agent that made the ruling. If you live in Texas you can contact Robin Corrigan, Team Leader, Sales Tax Section, Tax Policy Division at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, PO Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528. Her email address: [email protected]. There was no court ruling.. it was a ruling made by this office and the consumer is NOT responsible.. TNC is. NOBODY in Texas gave them the authority to collect from any of their customers.

Esperanza1260 · Dec 16, 2008

Sorry, you have to pay it. The statute of limitations allows TCN to go after the taxes, even if it has been years ago. if you don't pay it, you'll end up in collections.

Man are you wrong. Read above. Call the Tax people. Read the tax code. If they $%#%@ with me I'll sue them. PERIOD. When they found out I was talking to the State Comptroller's Office they stopped calling me and apologized for having called in the first place. In fact the girl I talked to denied knowing anything about the tax code... said "thanks for telling me, I didn't know TNC was doing anything wrong. We won't call you again." Then she asked me who I was talking to at the State. If enough people contact the State with the same complaint TNC will be a thing of a past.. at least in Texas.

BTW the collection agency they threaten you with--American Credit Exchange--is a part of TNC. All you have to do is tell them that until you get an official notice from the State you ain't paying anything. And make sure you mention the Comptroller's Office.. tell them you've contacted them. They'll kiss your butt after that.

Chupa · Jan 1, 2009

esperanza

now i am totally perplexed, your information that you have stated on the board here is contradicted by the email i have received from robin corrigan at the texas state comptrollers office. what am i missing????

see her email below

********************************

thank you for your inquiry concerning texas sales and use taxes being charged by the college network. i apologize for the delay in this response. we have been inundated by requests for written opinions and are still significantly backlogged at this point. thank you for your patience.

the comptroller's office has already collected the tax due on the sales made in this state by the college network from that entity. that company is now trying to recoup the tax payerment from its customers.under texas law, it is legal for the seller to request payment of the tax due from the purchaser if it was not collected at the time of the original sale. the obligation to pay sales tax on a taxable item is a debt of the purchaser, just as the obligation to pay for the item itself is a debt of the purchaser.

in the case of highway contractors, inc. v. west texas equipment company, inc., 617 s.w.2d 791 (tex.civ.app. - amarillo 1981), the court stated in relevant part that:

"[the tax code] required [seller] west texas to add the sales tax to the sale price of the equipment. west texas did not do so at the time of sale nor, at that time, had it been determined that west texas was liable to the state for the tax. thus, having neither added the tax nor having been held liable for it, west texas did not possess a viable cause of action against [purchaser] highway contractors at the time of the sale. the later payment of the tax by west texas pursuant to the texas comptroller's determination of liability was an automatic addition of the tax to the sale price and activated west texas ' rights

against highway contractors under [the tax code]. thus, upon payment by west texas, the sales tax became 'a debt of (highway contractors) to ( west texas ) until paid ... recoverable at law in the same manner as the purchase price....' see cannon ball truck stop, inc. v. mobil oil corporation, 501 s.w.2d 927, 929 (tex.civ.app. houston

(14th dist.) 1973, writ ref'd n.r.e.)."

the same court case stated that the four-year statute of limitations to collect from the purchaser runs from the date the seller paid the tax to the state, meaning that the seller has four years from when it paid the previously uncollected tax to the state to seek payment from the purchaser of the tax the seller paid to the state on the purchaser's behalf (so to speak), even if the original transaction was more than four years ago. as far as we currently know, this is the applicable law.

complete texas sales tax information, including rules, statutes, publications, and frequently asked questions can be found on the sales and use tax web page at: http://window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/.

this opinion is based on the information presented. other information, though similar, may provide a different result.

if you have any questions or need additional information, you can reply to this email, call me at 1-800-531-5441 ext. 31810, or write to tax policy division, p. o. box 13528 , austin , texas 78711-3528 .

our goal is to provide you with prompt, professional service. please take a moment to complete our on-line survey at http://aixtcp.cpa.state.tx.us/surveys/tpsurv2/index.html.

regards,

robin corrigan

team lead

sales tax policy

texas comptroller of public accounts

*****************************************

important notice: this communication, and any attachments, may contain privileged or confidential information under the texas public information act or other applicable state and federal laws. if you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from your system.

******************************************

Esperanza1260 · Mar 1, 2009

Hello all
I too have just received a notice (Dec 2008) that I have been turned over to a collection agency for taxes due.
This is ridiculous. It's almost 2009, I paid them off completely in 2004 (almost 5 yrs after the fact) and how can they come back at me for taxes when they were operating illegally in the state of Texas. These people own a business and know there are rules, regulations and laws that all vary from state to state. They knew they were providing a service (counseling, etc) and selling a product (modules).
I signed a contract with this company some time in 2003 and paid off my contract in 2004. I met my obligation.
After deciding to change my degree plan, I contact TCN and was told that they were going to charge me $200 to review my transcripts.
I was also told that if I needed to update any of the study modules, that I could send them back, but would have to pay something like $25 to get an updated module.
What BS.... the sales rep and his wife who led seminar told us nothing of these hidden costs...in fact, they painted a very rosey picture of how wonderful TCN is, but left out the very important details of costs to you that you would not find out until further down the line.
I would certainly avoid doing business with this group and would be leery of others who provide this type of service.
I am checking into this matter now, with plans to contact the Texas State Attorney General, State Comptroller, BBB and a tax attorney.
If anyone hears or knows of any actions or information regarding this situation, please post here and lets spread the word to EVERYONE affected by this mess.
My advice to everyone is to contact ALL of the people above in writting. Once they see a trend of 1000's of people in the state of Texas complaining about this issue, perhaps someone in power will take a stance, but if you don't write, they won't know you and many others has a problem with this.
TCN did NOT operate withing the confines of Texas Law. On the State Comptrollers website, there is information for businesses to determine if their business MUST collect taxes and how to pay them and if you do NOT understand the rules, you can contact the comptrollers office to determine if you must collect taxes, TCN simply failed to follow through on this as a responsible business should have.
My one questions is, when did this going into law in the state of Texas. As I am not a business expert, I thought that as long as a person in Texas (or other state) bought something from another state that there were no sales tax.... I believe at somepoint, alot of states were changing that because of loss of sales via internet..... and perhaps I am complelely off base.... maybe there is an expert out there....
Perhaps, TCN will let us return their product for a full refund.
As I learn more on this matter, I will post as well, but I am NOT paying this until I know my rights and I am consider filing suit against them (if possible), because now they are going to hurt my excellent credit with this mess that they created.
Please keep posting on this matter, I want to hear more about other peoples dilemma.

The operative phrase here is: it is legal for the seller to request payment. They can ask you to pay but that doesn't mean you have to pay. You contracted with the company for a service at a fee. I paid the amount that I contracted for. They can't make me pay anymore than that. Imagine your car company deciding now, after 4 years of payments, that you need to pay more. Or how about Home Depot? Suppose they decide that you need to pay some amount that you never knew about because they forgot to add it to your bill. The state of Texas has to try to keep TCN happy because they want them to continue to sell taxable goods whereby the state also makes money. But the case cited above is one where all parties involved are goverment agencies. I can't imagine how a civil court could make you pay a tax that you never knew you had to pay at the time you signed the contract. Remember they're from out of state and that's why I assumed, as did they, that the texas sales tax did not apply. I told the collection office to shove it and they did. They even apologized to me. But if I had agreed to pay it then I would've become liable. Get it? They ask and if you agree then it's your bad.

bockwich · Apr 17, 2009

Just to update, after posting about receiving harassing messages from a collection agency about this, I sent them a cease and desist (sp) letter by certified mail. Since then I have not heard a word from them. At the bottom of the letter I repeated the part about correcting my credit records with the credit agencies.

Last week I bought a car, as I filled out the application and the dealer ran my credit profile, I told him about this and we looked together. There is no mention of this anywhere in my credit records. Hopefully this is over for me.

According to the letter I sent they had so long to contact me and dispute it, to show me where I in fact did owe this. This time has since past without any response from them.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my posts, hope this can help you also...

I give this site 3 gold starts!

jagraham78 · May 8, 2009

I see that I am not alone. My notice went into the trash also, but now I have received a notice from a collection agency saying I have been turned over for unpaid debts. How can I protect myself? I already have felt ripped off by TCN since I signed up, have 3 more payments to go and have never used them. I only kept paying because I said I would when I signed the contract. Everyone I know that signed up experienced the same thing, after signing up they claimed after re-evaluation they had to add an extra course, and of course more money. A lot of my friends just quit paying them, but I did honor my committment. This is how they repayed me.
I could gripe on and on, but I guess my main question is this, is anyone starting a class action suit against this and how do I get onboard?
Thanks..Mike in texas

Hi Mike,

Did you find out if there are any action suits against this evil money sucking scam artist. I'm in Florida.

Jeremy

bockwich · Jan 5, 2011

Sorry, but I never did find out. After I sent the cease and disist (sp?) letter, I never heard anything else about it. My last credit check showed nothing about it. I guess they sent everyone a letter and settled for the few people who just payed with no questions asked and let the others go.

Many thanks to everyone on this sight for their input and help...mike