I have an issue where I keep receiving a property tax bill for a previous resident every month. I have been writing things like "return to sender" or "no longer at this address" but I keep getting the tax bill. I read these two questions which say that simply throwing away the mail is illegal. However it is minor nuisance to keep having to do this every month for the past 10 years.
Finally I decided to call the sender (the treasurer/tax collector for my county) and the clerk there just said I can just throw it away and there is nothing they can do to update the system.
This made me wonder if I am now allowed to throw away the mail since the sender themselves said to throw it away. And if they can't "update the system", returning it to the sender will be useless. My only hesitation is that they are probably an entry level employee and aren't really in a position of authority. What if I got in contact with the head of the local treasury department and they themself said to throw away the mail. Can I do it then?
And just as a totally hypothetical scenario, what if the president of the United States called me and said I can throw away the mail. Is it ok to do it then? I am reminded of situations where there is a traffic accident and police officers tell you to cross a double yellow line. It's normally illegal to do so but since police officers instruct you then it's ok.
