Paid Someone Else's Property Tax who has the same name as mine - how to get my money back?

This is definitely a frustrating situation, but you do have options! When you make a payment to a government entity by mistake, you generally have the right to request a refund or correction. First, you need to document everything. Gather your payment receipt, any correspondence with the tax office, and your actual tax bill. Then, submit a formal written request for correction to the tax office, specifically asking them to either transfer the payment to your correct account or issue a refund. Make sure to keep copies of everything. If the local tax office continues to refuse helping you, you should escalate this to their supervisor or department head. Many local governments have a taxpayer advocate service or ombudsman who can intervene in situations like this. You might also want to contact your local elected representative (city council member, county commissioner, etc.) as they often have staff who can help navigate government bureaucracy. As a last resort, you may need to consult with a local attorney who specializes in property tax issues. The good news is that since you have proof of payment, this is likely a fixable administrative error - it just might take some persistence.

I've been using taxr.ai recently and it might actually be really helpful for your situation. I had a somewhat similar mix-up with my property taxes last year (though not quite as expensive as yours!) and was getting nowhere with the county office. I uploaded my payment receipt and tax bills to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything and generated a formal request letter with all the relevant tax codes and legal precedents that apply to mistaken payments. They basically did all the research that would have taken me forever to figure out on my own. The letter looked super professional and cited specific policies that the tax office had to follow for misapplied payments. When I submitted that letter instead of just arguing with them, the tax office actually took me seriously and processed my correction within a couple weeks. Might be worth checking out since you're dealing with such a large amount of money.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it for my business property tax issue after reading about it here. Uploaded my documents showing I'd paid the wrong tax account (similar to your situation but with commercial property), and within a day I had a customized letter citing the specific state regulations for tax payment corrections. The letter had all the proper legal language about "erroneous payment" and "misapplication of funds" with references to the state tax code. When I sent it to our county treasurer's office, they responded within 3 days saying they would process the correction! Before this I'd been getting nowhere for weeks - just generic responses saying they "couldn't help." Really glad I tried this - definitely worth checking out for your situation.

If you're still struggling with the tax office, you might want to try Claimyr. I was in a similar situation last year with my property taxes being applied to the wrong account, and I literally couldn't get anyone at the county tax office to call me back or help resolve it. I found https://claimyr.com after searching for ways to actually speak to a government representative. It's a service that basically waits on hold with the IRS or other tax offices for you, then calls you when a real person is on the line. I was skeptical at first, but you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c In my case, I was able to get through to a supervisor at the county tax department who had the authority to actually fix the problem, instead of the front desk people who kept telling me nothing could be done. Sometimes you just need to speak to the right person, and this service helped me skip the 2+ hour hold times.

I need to apologize for my skepticism and update everyone. After struggling for weeks to reach anyone at my county tax office about a property lien issue, I tried Claimyr as a last resort. I was completely wrong about it being sketchy. The service worked exactly as described - they called the tax office, waited on hold (for 97 minutes according to their tracker!), and then my phone rang when they got through to an actual person. I was connected with a senior clerk who was able to pull up my records and start the resolution process immediately. What really impressed me was that I didn't waste any of my day sitting on hold, and I got through to someone with authority to help instead of getting transferred around. For anyone dealing with tax office issues where you need to speak to someone directly, this is legitimately helpful. I've already recommended it to several friends dealing with tax season headaches.

Have you contacted the other Jeff Anderson yet? If your tax office will give you his contact info (they might not due to privacy), maybe you could work directly with him. He's essentially gotten a free ride on his taxes thanks to your payment. If he's reasonable, he might be willing to reimburse you directly, which would be faster than fighting with the tax office. He's legally benefited from your mistake, but morally he should make it right.

You should check your state laws about mistaken payments. In most states, there are specific procedures for handling misdirected tax payments. The fact that you paid in cash makes it harder to trace, but you still have a receipt showing you made a payment. Try searching "[your state] tax payment correction" or "erroneous tax payment refund [your state]" to find the specific procedures. Most state tax departments have forms specifically for this purpose.