University mails tax forms to wrong recipients
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 02/09/2009
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Almost 1,000 individuals and more than 200 companies had personal tax information leaked because of a mistake made by Purdue administrators.
Last week, Purdue mailed the 1099 tax forms of 248 companies and 962 individuals to the wrong recipients. Two forms were printed per page with a perforation allowing the forms to be separated for mailing. The forms were not separated and both were mailed to the taxpayer listed on the top of the page.
Information on the tax forms included Social Security numbers and the Federal Employer Identification Number of various companies. The University sent out letters dated Feb. 2 to those affected, notifying them of the mailing error. Mary Alexander-Conte, assistant comptroller and the contact person listed on the letter, refused to comment when contacted Friday.
Last Friday, a week after the mailing error took place, the University published a press release specifying details of the incident.
“This means that some people received two forms – the correct one and another belonging to another company or individual – while others received no form,” John R. Shipley, interim vice president for business services and assistant treasurer, said in the press release. “We identified the error quickly and sent out letters to both groups alerting them to the situation. We asked those receiving two forms to return the incorrect form to us.”
Jessica Berger, a high school teacher who leads workshops for Purdue, received someone else’s form in addition to her own.
“I got it on Friday so I had it a whole weekend before I could contact Purdue,” she said. “It was up in the air; it could have been bad, but it worked out OK for us.”
Berger’s husband, Mikel, didn’t receive his 1099 form. Instead, it was mailed to someone else.
“My husband didn’t know about it because he hadn’t received his form,” she said. “He wouldn’t have known someone else had his form or that this even happened if it wasn’t for my form and me getting someone else’s.”
Purdue is taking the necessary steps to protect the information of everyone who was affected by the incident, said the press release.
“Purdue and our business services area devote a great deal of thought and resources to protect the information and privacy of anyone connected to the University,” Shipley said. “While this incident was unfortunate, I’m thankful that our staff acted promptly to ensure that all the affected parties were notified in a timely fashion.”
The University re-mailed the forms and set up a toll-free number and Web site to address any questions those affected might have. The Web site is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/Payroll0901.html.