Question: With the red-light cameras, I understand that citations will be issued to the registered owner. What happens when there’s a joint registration? Who receives the citation? Our vehicles are jointly registered to my wife and me. When van cam was in effect, I received a citation because my name was listed first on the registration, although I wasn’t the driver. Will red-light cameras follow the same procedure? It doesn’t seem fair to arbitrarily assign citations to the first name on the registration since the citations will affect driving records. I’ve asked this question several times, during hearings on the legislation and after the bill passed when comments were requested by the state Department of Transportation, but have not received an answer. I hope that you’re able to get an answer.
Answer: There’s still no answer to this question, which numerous readers are asking.
The state DOT is “finalizing the business rules that would address situations such as issuance in the instance of more than one registered owner,” spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige said Monday in an email. The rules should be finished before month’s end, she said.
The automated enforcement system would photograph a vehicle running a red light and generate a ticket to be mailed to the vehicle’s registered owner. Enforcement has not begun; the state and city are deciding which Oahu intersections should have the cameras.
Q: I received a CP80 notice letter from the IRS. It states that I have a credit on my account in the exact amount of the tax I owed and paid in 2020. I received my canceled check in 2021, which I sent in with my return. The IRS claims it has not received my return. It also requests that I submit a newly signed copy of my 2020 return, if I already filed this return. I have been unsuccessful in contacting the IRS and would like to know whether this letter is, in fact, legitimate.
A: The notice you received is not a scam; however, the Internal Revenue Service has since rescinded the instructions. You don’t need to submit another copy of your 2020 return.
The IRS sends this notice when it has a record of your payment but not of your tax return. At the moment, this problem primarily involves paper returns, which sat unprocessed for months early in the pandemic. Payments were credited to the taxpayer’s account, but the return was not processed.
The IRS began sending out CP80s for affected 2019 and 2020 tax returns, then announced it would stop doing so, leaving taxpayers who had already received the notice (like you) wondering whether to follow its instructions. Last week the IRS updated its guidance, saying:
“Due to processing delays for 2019 and 2020 tax returns, the issuance of CP80 and CP080 (Unfiled Tax Return — Credit on Account) notices has been suspended. If you received a notice for your 2019 return and you filed timely, please refile the return. If you received a notice for your 2020 return DO NOT refile.”
Your notice involved a 2020 tax return, so you don’t need to resend it.
As for the current tax season, the IRS urges everyone who can to file their tax returns electronically.
Mahalo
Thank you to the mail carrier who informed me that someone had hit my parked car, and provided me with a license plate. This happened at the end of December while I was hiking with my son on the Makiki trail. When the carrier approached me with a card containing the license plate number, I was shocked and forgot to get his name. With the information, the driver was located and confessed to hitting my car, which had over $8,000 worth of damage, so I’m grateful that my insurance company could follow up. Thank you to the carrier for taking the time to provide me with the information. Mahalo! — L.H.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
