California just sent my wife a tax bill from 1999!!!

[LeeH]

Not happy about this at all. Just got a bill from CA. Very little info. They say my wife owed $298 in taxes on our 1999 return. Their explanation is, "We revised the amount of withholding claimed on your return."

The $298 from 1999 is now over $1000 with penalties and interest!

Is there a statute of limitations on collection of income tax?

My (now former) CPA prepared our 1999 return. Does he have any liability? I still have the return and don't see that we even filed in CA. My wife was based in Fresno, but we lived in AZ. Her W2 showed something like $58 of withholding for CA disability, but that's it.

Please avoid PARFifying this.

[Heel n Toe]

Call the guy.

It would be interesting to know how many others (not just Pelicans, but in the country) have gotten this sort of late revision in the last few years... it makes no sense they'd be looking at stuff this far in the past... rings of desperately seeking funds to boost government coffers through coercion to me.

[sammyg2]

statute of limitations is up.
Send it back and say sorry, but no freaking way.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a tax attorney and taking advice from me without verifying would be kinda dumb.

[Head416]

California is even harrassing people that don't live here!!!! #$^#&#*!!!!!!!

[ronster]

In the state of California it is a four year statute of limitations. Last year the state sent me a "revised" tax bill from 2007 with interest. It arrived a few days before the statute would have expired. I called them and although I did my taxes on their web site, with no errors, they claimed I entered my pension in the wrong category and paid no tax on it. It doesn't matter to them if their web site is wrong or you are wrong you still owe the tax but in your situation I would stand behind the statute.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I think my response to your spider thread also applies here.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Not happy about this at all. Just got a bill from CA. Very little info. They say my wife owed $298 in taxes on our 1999 return. Their explanation is, "We revised the amount of withholding claimed on your return."

The $298 from 1999 is now over $1000 with penalties and interest!

Is there a statute of limitations on collection of income tax?

My (now former) CPA prepared our 1999 return. Does he have any liability? I still have the return and don't see that we even filed in CA. My wife was based in Fresno, but we lived in AZ. Her W2 showed something like $58 of withholding for CA disability, but that's it.

Please avoid PARFifying this.

The statute of limitations in Ca is four years from the date of filing. However, if no return was filed, there is no time limit.

You need to talk to your former CPA as it appears no return was filed in Ca. If that's the case, your SOL.

[LeeH]

Found a thread on a pilot BBS that suggests this is common. Hopefully a few letters will take care of it.
CA state income tax - Airline Pilot Central Forums

[ODDJOB UNO]

dont send them any spiders...........they will get a lil huffy over that.

[red-beard]

I fought for several years a situation where I worked in NY and my wife worked in Massachusetts.

Mass tried at one point to collect taxes, but decided I only "dossed" in Massachusetts. I worked in NY, voted in NY, driver's license and car registration in NY.

AFTER I was divorced. I recieved a notice from NYS that I owed taxes. They compared my Federal Returns with my State return. They said I owed taxes for my wife. She worked in Massachusetts, not NY. Long story short, they did not care. I filled a joint Federal return, so I owed her income as well. I fought it for 3 years and had to pay the day before I moved to California...

[john70t]

I was dreamin' when I wrote this, Forgive me if it goes astray
But when I woke up this mornin', Coulda sworn it was judgment day
The sky was all purple, There were people runnin' everywhere
Tryin' 2 run from the destruction, U know I didn't even care

[56 nomad]

i got the same thing....what am i supposed to do, fighting it is B.S. and i think they know it. so we all pay-up...state did the same thing. ben

interestig how we never get any interest back when we have over paid .

[LeeH]

Thankfully I keep tax returns long past when it's supposedly okay to shred them. I was able to unearth our 1999 return which included a CA W2 as well as one from GA, and AZ.

We had to fax a copy of the return and W2s to the CA Franchise Tax Board. After reviewing the docs, they say we don't owe them anything!

I think the fact that we did receive a W2 from CA for 1999 and it showed $0 in CA wages is what got us off the hook. Really irks me that they would dredge up something from so long ago. The rep wanted to know why we didn't respond to the notices they sent in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Well... that'd be 'cause we had MOVED and never received them!!! Grrrrr.

[vash]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Thankfully I keep tax returns long past when it's supposedly okay to shred them. I was able to unearth our 1999 return which included a CA W2 as well as one from GA, and AZ.

We had to fax a copy of the return and W2s to the CA Franchise Tax Board. After reviewing the docs, they say we don't owe them anything!

I think the fact that we did receive a W2 from CA for 1999 and it showed $0 in CA wages is what got us off the hook. Really irks me that they would dredge up something from so long ago. The rep wanted to know why we didn't respond to the notices they sent in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Well... that'd be 'cause we had MOVED and never received them!!! Grrrrr.

did you end the conversation with a "booyah!"

well done, buddy.!!

[motion]

I got a letter last year out of the blue, along with a nice lien on my property, saying I owed $28,000 and change to CA. I wrote them a nice letter, and provided a copy of my return, reiterating that I owed $0 for that particular year. Its since been revised accordingly. Nice try, CA.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by LeeH

We had to fax a copy of the return and W2s to the CA Franchise Tax Board. After reviewing the docs, they say we don't owe them anything!

Excellent, Lee... way to go.

Now, don't be surprised if in a year or more some dopey CA tax dept. emplawee pulls your file and goes "aHA!" and tries it again.

[azasadny]

Simmilar thing happened to us after we had moved back to MI after leaving the military (and CA). It was at least 5-7 years after the tax year and we had to pay CA the $ or else...

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Thankfully I keep tax returns long past when it's supposedly okay to shred them. I was able to unearth our 1999 return which included a CA W2 as well as one from GA, and AZ.

We had to fax a copy of the return and W2s to the CA Franchise Tax Board. After reviewing the docs, they say we don't owe them anything!

I think the fact that we did receive a W2 from CA for 1999 and it showed $0 in CA wages is what got us off the hook. Really irks me that they would dredge up something from so long ago. The rep wanted to know why we didn't respond to the notices they sent in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Well... that'd be 'cause we had MOVED and never received them!!! Grrrrr.

And how much did they pay you for your time that it took to prove that they were wrong? jerks...

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Excellent, Lee... way to go.

Now, don't be surprised if in a year or more some dopey CA tax dept. emplawee pulls your file and goes "aHA!" and tries it again.

Yeah... I've asked my wife to call back and speak to the person she's been dealing with to discuss this. Hopefully a phone call now will keep us from having to go through this for the other tax years she was based in CA.

[Rouxzy]

Thank goodness we don't have state income tax in NH.