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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

I filed my 2005 income taxes for Mississippi last April, expecting a couple of hundred dollars back. Then I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, I call the State Tax Commissioner and ask what’s up. They lost my files.

So I refile. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, I start calling in November to ask what’s up. Every time, I get the same reply:

“Our computers are down. Call back later.”

Click. No thank you or have a nice day.

Finally, in December, I check online and it says a check was sent to me on Dec. 5. So I wait for that check to arrive. It never does. I call the State Tax Commissioner (Jackson office) again.

“You’re gonna have to call back. Our computers are down.”

Click.

Why isn’t the STC running efficiently? Forget the fact that I still haven’t gotten the check and these people are rude on the phone, but what is up that their computers are always down? I really think this needs to be looked into. A state government agency should not have malfunctioning computers so often.