there was server validation code in place to make the comments and tax ID elements required. the form would submit if you filled all the fields in, i removed the validation for those 2 fields.w
also, the webassist/email/mail_php.php and webassist/email/mailformatting_php.php files on the server where old versions, i replaced them with updated versions.
in my test, I added my address the to settings and was able to receive the email.