Help Save Wisconsin History
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Due to a very high Inheritance tax dating from 2006 we having been selling off our cottages and land to pay the IRS for 12 years. This year our cottages did not sell and we will be unable to pay. They will assess a monthly fine of $8500.00 until it is paid and will then be able to take whatever they choose including our Main Lodge, homes and property. We have very little left and would like to preserve this important piece of Northern Wisconsin history and our livelihood. We have three years left to pay this unfair tax and the IRS will not negotiate. This tax has devastated our lives and business. Any help would be more than gratefully appreciated by our family.
The IRS contact I spoke with said "as long as you have assets, we will take them." Manitowish Waters has been my family's home since 1886. I had planned to live out my life here and now at 71 years of age how I will live out my remaining years is in question. I had counted on my savings and land sales to provide for my remaining years. The IRS has taken both away from me. We have never had money, only land that was part of the resort. We have now sold almost all that land. The money from the land sales goes primarily to the IRS and state, local and federal taxes, licenses and fees, and insurance with very little left to live on. Certainly nothing left to do basic things like fixing roofs, dental and medical help. This has been my family's home & business for 110 years...110 years of the same family paying property taxes; 110 years of paying for licenses and fees; 110 years of giving to the town and community. We have run a good business that has been an asset to the town and the state. People come to Voss' by droves to see a true old Wisconsin summer resort and to learn the history of Northern Wisconsin pioneers.
Voss' has been here through all the historic eras; the logging era, fishing resorts, the gangster era, moonshining, the beginning of the tourist heyday and now as a treasured piece of history. Our family, the Voss/LaPorte family, helped build the town and maintain it. We have been excellent stewards of the land. The family's services and assets were given to the town freely for many years.
We had a lawyer and I was confidant that we were "safe" from this tax. We were not. Instead of taking we have given and continue to do so. We would like to continue our legacy of service.
The IRS contact I spoke with said "as long as you have assets, we will take them." Manitowish Waters has been my family's home since 1886. I had planned to live out my life here and now at 71 years of age how I will live out my remaining years is in question. I had counted on my savings and land sales to provide for my remaining years. The IRS has taken both away from me. We have never had money, only land that was part of the resort. We have now sold almost all that land. The money from the land sales goes primarily to the IRS and state, local and federal taxes, licenses and fees, and insurance with very little left to live on. Certainly nothing left to do basic things like fixing roofs, dental and medical help. This has been my family's home & business for 110 years...110 years of the same family paying property taxes; 110 years of paying for licenses and fees; 110 years of giving to the town and community. We have run a good business that has been an asset to the town and the state. People come to Voss' by droves to see a true old Wisconsin summer resort and to learn the history of Northern Wisconsin pioneers.
Voss' has been here through all the historic eras; the logging era, fishing resorts, the gangster era, moonshining, the beginning of the tourist heyday and now as a treasured piece of history. Our family, the Voss/LaPorte family, helped build the town and maintain it. We have been excellent stewards of the land. The family's services and assets were given to the town freely for many years.
We had a lawyer and I was confidant that we were "safe" from this tax. We were not. Instead of taking we have given and continue to do so. We would like to continue our legacy of service.
Organizer
Ruth Gardner
Organizer
Town of Manitowish Waters, WI
