Thursday, 4:30 PM
Tax forms mixed up
By Jonathan Saltzman, GLOBE STAFF
Milton Kornfeld didn’t even return the phone call when a state Department of Revenue employee left a message at his Brookline Village home late last month mentioning some kind of problem with a tax form mailed to him. "I’m not an alarmist," the 64-year-old educational consultant explained.
But when a neighbor on Gorham Avenue called Kornfeld a few days later to say he had received a tax form containing the Social Security numbers of Kornfeld and his wife, Kornfeld was less blasé.
Today, the Revenue Department said 45 taxpayers in Brookline’s 02445 zip code recently received tax forms with their neighbors’ names and Social Security numbers because of a blunder by an Indiana vendor that prints and mails the coupons.
Alan L. LeBovidge, commissioner of revenue, sent a letter to residents this week apologizing for the gaffe and assuring them that "maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information is our highest priority."
Department officials said they are considering terminating the contract with Allison Payment Systems of Indianapolis, which receives $235,000 a year to print and mail Estimated Income Tax coupons to more than 411,000 taxpayers statewide. Company officials did not return phone calls seeking comment.
