Past Transcripts/Grad School (WGU)

[dfrecore]

Actually even federal tax debt does expire, after ten years without activity that would "pause" it, which is mostly limited to actions by the taxpayer. Of course if you're owed a refund, you only have three years to file to collect it.

Ok, I misspoke. Yes, after 10 years, your IRS debt gets written off. BUT, in those intervening 10 years, they will do their very best to make your life a living hell. They can (and will) audit you multiple times, garnish your wages, seize your federal tax refunds, seize your bank accounts, place a tax lien on your house or other property, and can force you to sell your house. So, the chances of them not collecting at least some of the taxes you owe is slim. Plus, if you get a tax lien, that's on your credit and is as bad as having a repo. Not a good plan for most people.

When you owe money to a public state college, after the statute of limitations is up, they can no longer try to collect the money, but they can refuse to render services, which includes sending a transcript to you. And if they report to the national clearinghouse, then any school is going to be able to see that you can't get your transcript because you owe money to another school, which may hurt your chances to get into the college that you want to.

If it was $25,000, I might say that you should try to negotiate with them, but when it's only $1,000, just pay it (they will usually work with you on a payment plan). It's not worth the hassle it brings into your life.