Legal Question in Consumer Law in New Jersey

My lawn service company in northeastern Bergen County NJ has, (with no notice of any kind), tacked on an extra $400 onto my recent monthly bill (I pay over 12 months, about $171, everything fine up till now).

When I questioned this, they claimed that that for the years 2008 & 2009, they should have been charging me NJ state tax on my regular bill but didn't at the time; so this $400 is reflecting 2 years of accumulated taxes. Can they just charge me for what must have been their bad bookkeeping? From 2 years ago? Is that even legal? I have no idea if they have sent this extra tax bill to all their customers.

Any help on this is much appreciated.


Asked on 6/17/10, 9:43 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Take a differnt approach to that problem. Ask the lawn service for copies of their authorization from the State to collect sales taxes applicable to the period for which they claim the taxes are due. In New Jersey, there is a distinction between a business being required to pay sales tax to the State and its authority to collect sales tax from its customers. Just because the State has assessed back taxes on the lawn service does not mean that they have the authority to collect those taxes from you after the date of the sale. My guess is that they will be unable to produce the documents that show that they have the authority to collect those taxes for the dates in question. If they do not have the authority, not only do you not have to pay, it is inlawful for them to collect the tax from you. � See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 6/18/10, 7:01 am


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