I'm Sorry, Did You Say I Have To Pay Taxes On My Taxes? Americredit - A Miserable Auto Loan Company

I got 4 of these 1099 forms from the State of Arizona today.  They're attempting to tell me that my tax refunds that I received last year from previous years is - taxable income.

Now let me get this straight.  I file my TAX returns to the State of Arizona.  I get refunds.  The next year, during tax season, I get 1099's saying that that is "income".  Yes, it's income THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN TAXED and is the return on the OVERPAID taxes!  

Whatever.

Americredit. A miserable company, to say the least.  I washed my hands of them after the head-on collision that wasn't my fault and the truck was destroyed.  A VERY long story I won't bother going into here, but they "repossessed" the destroyed truck - in the impound yard since it had been towed there after the accident - and "gave" it to the insurance company.  I had had numerous conversations with them about getting the truck out of the yard and into my driveway, where I would strip the engine and transmission out of it and that would repay the $1,500.00 I had left owing on it.  The original loan was for $17,500.  I had paid $12,000 on it in payments and the insurance company gave them 10 grand on it.

No sympathy from them and didn't care about the truck.  Hindsight being 20-20, I should have just paid the storage fees for the truck and had it towed to my driveway - behind my gate.  I was intent on simply the remaining usable parts on the truck and that would have paid off the debt.

Instead, they played some mind games with me that infuriated me and had me on the phone for a long, long time with what eventually got to corporate headquarters.  A "man" in Dallas, Texas - some facility there that houses these people for their business - had me wanting to punch his lights out.  It is ever-so-loving easy to talk trash and speak insults over a phone, it is never that easy in-person.

Whatever the case, I refused to pay the amount "owing" after they refused to do anything for me.  They didn't care, neither did I.  When they let the truck go to the insurance company, who called me to inform me that they had been "given" the truck, that was the end of it for me.  I have left a lot out here, I would have to write a novel on the situation that unfolded and quite frankly, I don't want to stir all that up within me again.

Today was their final blow.  I got a letter from Americredit today.  I haven't spoken to them since maybe a few months after that accident and the phone calls transpired. They "forgave" the debt.  Great?  Not hardly.  They reported it as income or whatever to the IRS and sent  me a 1099. In other words, I have to pay taxes on that "forgiven" debt.  I am not going to report it.  The IRS can come back and audit me. Americredit is going to have to prove that the amount they stated is the amount that was "forgiven".  The original amount "forgiven" was about $1,499.  The amount they are claiming is almost 3 grand.

I contested it from the beginning.  I contested it on my credit report.  I have never not contested it simply because of the extreme circumstances behind all of it.

I don't expect to get a tax refund this year, in case anyone is wondering.  I will file my taxes, but that s*** isn't going on there and when the IRS comes back and demands payment or modifies the return, I am going to fire right back at them.  Well, not really fire at them, but inform them of the situation that actually is occurring.  Americredit cannot make false claims and they are going to have to provide proof.

The only plus side to this?  This nightmare will go away on my credit report.  That's right, Americredit has been reporting since August of 2005 that I am "late" on my payment.  Well, actually,  no payment has been received.  It has dinged my credit for almost 7 years now.  The legal limit that they could "sue" me in court is 6 years in Arizona. Yeah, that passed a while back.  My credit score, after this is reported to the big 3 reporting agencies and after 3 or more months have passed - will rise up quickly.  If I have to end up paying the IRS, then I will pay it.  This is the one case where I would rather pay the IRS.

Whatever.  It's a chapter in the book of my life that I have been wanting to have closed for some time now, but I absolutely REFUSED to give Americredit ANYTHING.  You can't refuse the IRS - they will eventually just take it from you and then you will REALLY be hurting if what they take is your lifeblood.

There were several companies that picked up this debt, including one that claims a 99% collection rate.  I went to their website after they contacted me on the phone and I basically told them to but off.  I thought, not in this case.  I figure whatever I was going to get back this year from the IRS will just pay this off and if I have to write them a check, so beit.

Better to have this monkey off my back than to attempt to let it go forever.