# Issues with California state tax board **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 4, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219 "2024-08-04T02:01:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/1 "2024-08-04T02:01:10Z")
Thought I was going to get a few hundred back on my California state taxes but instead got a notice that says I owe about 27K. This was about 5 weeks ago. How did this happen? Apparently, I misplaced a decimal or added an extra digit to my income. They say that I stated my income was about 400K - about 8 times what I made last year. Unfortunately, I didn’t make a copy of my tax return - I just got some extra blank forms and copied over the numbers by hand. This became my copy of my 2023 state taxes. This also means that I am unable to view the same paperwork that the tax board has. You would think that they would look at my W-2 and other small sources of income and realize that the numbers didn’t add up but no, they just sent out a huge bill. Anyway, after a half a day of making phone calls I was told to submit an amended tax form and that it would take about 9 weeks to resolve this issue. So I filled out the forms and sent it out via certified mail about a month ago. Got the certified mail card back about week and a half ago so I now know that they have received the amended forms. Today, I got another notice that now I owe about 28K (the original 27K plus penalties)!! I guess I will have to call them again on Monday but in the meantime is there anything else that I can do? Thanks for any advice you can give me. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/2 "2024-08-04T03:23:11Z")
The certified mail card returned to you should have the date on it that they received the amended return. Count forward nine weeks from that date (not the date you received the card, it may have taken a while to get back to you). Anything you receive before that date will be based on your original return, and should no longer apply if they accept your amended return. If the notice you got today includes a phone number, that’s the number you should call on Monday. Tell them they have had an amended return since (date), and that the amended return should resolve these issues. Ask them if there is anything else you need to do, besides wait. The only other thing I can think of to do is to hire someone to help you. There is a kind of accountant who is certified to deal with the IRS (sorry, I forget what they are called, I had to use one once) and one of those could certainly also help you with the FTB (Franchise Tax Board). But you probably don’t need to do that unless they don’t accept your amended return for some reason. I assume your backup documentation (income records of whatever kind) supports your amended return rather than the original return. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2024, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/3 "2024-08-04T05:02:25Z")
Assuming (and I understand that I might be wrong, because California) that the state taxes are based on your Federal AGI, can you get a copy or transcript of your Federal return? At least that would show that your reported income matched your federal return, and that the income you reported on your state return was just an error on your part. But I would guess that it’s simply the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, on the part of the tax board. Eventually everything should work out, and hopefully before penalties are assessed. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/4 "2024-08-06T01:42:53Z")
Thank you @Roderick_Femm and @Dag_Otto for your advice, I have been stressing out over this a little bit. Called the tax board today and they confirmed that my amended tax forms are now being processed and things should be resolved by early October. In the meantime they will stop sending me tax bills. I guess from this point it’s going to be a game of wait and see. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/5 "2024-08-06T13:28:58Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > There is a kind of accountant who is certified to deal with the IRS (sorry, I forget what they are called, I believe the term is enrolled agent. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/6 "2024-09-03T04:43:28Z")
Got a reply letter from the California Tax Board on Friday stating that I will now recieve a refund. A separate envelope arrived the same day containing the refund check. I had been worried that I was going to fall into some sort of nightmarish rabbit hole but every thing turned out fine. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/7 "2024-09-03T14:54:25Z")
Tax bureaucracy is possibly the worst to fall afoul of, but I’m glad your situation is resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/8 "2024-09-04T08:01:18Z")
Hey, they said October! They can’t do anything right. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/9 "2024-09-04T19:11:46Z")
Hey @X.L.Lent , glad you got it sorted! I do taxes for TaxAide in CA & even though the CA forms are a paper-wasting unholy mess, the actual humans at FTB seem to be a lot more approachable than IRS employees. If you are trying to fill out paper forms by hand, I strongly encourage you to use tax software in the future. TaxAide, and another service (VITA) will prepare and file your federal and state taxes for free, as long as your situation falls within their guidelines – which it sounds like yours does. Plus, 3 years of past returns will be saved on their systems. You can also use one of the free file on-line programs, or hire a tax professional for big $$$ if you really have to. There are so many “gotchas” in the tax code now that preparing returns by hand will make you crazy and will almost certainly be wrong. Anyhow, if you want TaxAide or VITA to do your returns, make an appt as soon as possible in January. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/10 "2024-09-04T20:25:54Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > You can also use one of the free file on-line programs The FTB does have free online filing via their website, too, however it’s rather clunky and only seems to be able to handle very simple returns. I tried to use it a few years ago but couldn’t because it can’t handle HSA contributions. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-with-california-state-tax-board/1005219/11 "2024-09-04T21:30:05Z")
When the IRS goes to bed at night, they check under the bed for the Franchise Tax Board. They’re a lot more persistent and powerful. In the future, make sure you retain copies of everything you submit for at least 4 years. If you need copies after the fact, [there are several methods to get them](https://www.ftb.ca.gov/help/how-do-I-get-a-copy-of-my-state-tax-return.html) (IRS too)