Dear Weden,
It is reasonable to expect that you will at least have a temporary dropping of the lien. Because of the Fair Credit Reporting and Fair Debt Collection acts, the credit bureau must move the entry to a non-viewable part of the record until an investigation has been completed, and the person who placed the lien has been notified and asked about it. In many instances, a local tax collector does not respond to the inquiries. If they do not not respond then the entry is permanently deleted.
Now, the tax collector, if not barred from the statute of limitations, can bring further actions and cause the entry to be placed again.
You and I have no way of knowing if your tax collector will respond to the credit bureau inquiry. If they respond, the entry will remain, until paid.
Now your question places the judgment/lien on taxes in the same category as contractual based judgments.
In order to confirm if delinquent tax collections are barred by the statute of limitations, I need to know the source of this tax lien? property tax, sales and use tax, income tax, etc.
Thanks so much for your reply. The tax lien source is from sales (state only) via a sole proprietor business I owned for several years. The debt appeared after a 3 year audit - initially in the amount of ~$2000.
Also, just a correction - Equifax (not Experian) is the CRA still reporting the judgement. And, I left Mississippi before the judgement was levied and have never been back.
In regard to the statute of limitations for sales tax:
Under Mississippi Tax Code: (section 27-65-42) the state is barred from taking legal action for 36 months after assessment, but then tthey can take action. This potentially could mean that your lien is for taxes that are 10 years or older.
On the otherhand, the same statute states that the statute of limitations does not apply to tax debt from sales tax that is a result of acts of ommission (failure to file or report), or fraud.
The tax code does state that the tax due is considered a collectable debt.
So your basis assumption correct, but if the statute does not apply as indicated above, then that lien can remain indefinately.
FYI: as stated before, many collectors simply do not respond to inquiries there for the entry may drop off when you write the refute. BUT, since the rules regarding length of time are governed primary by the CRA, then it could still remain, if it is responded to by the tax collector.
Attorney
Licensed Practicing Attorney
Dear Wedens,
Best of luck to you.