WI DoR - Friendly and Easy-to-Work-With?

A bill from the WI Department of Revenue (DoR) arrived yesterday for estimated employee withholding taxes for a company I own, which has never had employees.  I thought they must be confusing the tax ID for my wife's business or the ID for our domestic employees with my company's ID.  I steeled myself for a long wait to talk to some languid bureaucrat.  If it got too annoying, I could just have our accountant deal with it.

After a three minute wait on hold, a friendly and knowledgeable person was helping me.  He explained that it was because I failed to file a zero-dollar withholding report form.  There was no fee or hard feelings.  He showed me how to add this company to my account on the DoR's website, so I can report this online.

Governor Walker keeps saying Wisconsin must be cheap on taxes to bring jobs.  It's far more important, though, for Wisconsin to be easy.  The company for which they helped me resolve the tax issue just so happens to be hiring someone in the next six weeks.  Having a user-friendly DoR website and a supportive staff there makes me sanguine about the process.

Maybe Governor Walker is doing something right behind the scenes to have such helpful people answering the phones, but his public rhetoric borders on demonizing the state's employees.  We need to be inspiring to these people and look for ways to retain the really good people who help small businesses rather than looking for a way to cut their pay or benefits.

I'm not sure who's responsible for the quick service I received today, but I say thank you to the WI DoR.  User-friendliness, a positive attitude, and a Wisconsin work ethic are important things to have on the front lines of a government agency that directly deals with job creation.