Posted on 03/20/2014 12:46:00 AM PDT by Renfield
Theft has been "legalized" for governments and banks in America.
Every once in a while an event crystallizes the stark reality behind the lacy curtain of propaganda and artifice. Here is one such event.
Correspondent R.T. is a retired accountant who has resided in Arizona since 2001. Prior to 2001, he resided in California.
On March 14, he received a letter from the California Franchise Tax Board (the agency that collects income taxes) claiming that he owed $1,343 for the tax year 2006. This was the first notification he'd ever received of this claim. This was an interesting claim given that R.T.:
-- Did not reside in California in 2006
-- Did not file a State income tax return in California in 2006
-- Did not have any outstanding tax issues with California in 2006
-- Did no business in California in 2006
-- Owned no property in California in 2006
The number $1,343 is also interesting, as R.T.'s total Federal tax liability in 2006 was $650. Since the top income tax rate in California is about 9%, and that only kicks in at relatively high income levels above $100,000 annually, then it's difficult to see how anyone could owe double their Federal tax in California state tax.
But the truly interesting part of the story is that the state took $1,343 out of R.T.'s Wells Fargo bank account on March 2, prior to notifying him of the claim. Wells Fargo charged R.T. $100 for handling the removal of his $1,343.
As R.T. observed: "If I had filed a 2006 California tax return the statute of limitations would have run out, but since I did not file a 2006 tax return there is no statute of limitations. This is the classic catch 22."
I do not have copies of the correspondence so I cannot verify this sequence of events, but I have corresponded with R.T. for many years and have found him to be a credible witness to national events. While some might claim he invented this story of state theft out of whole cloth, there is no basis in our years of correspondence to support that claim.
What is entirely believable is that the state of California, desperate for revenue, is churning out dubious income tax claims stretching back years and collecting the money without due process. This is theft, pure and simple, and charging the account owner $100 for transacting the theft is also theft.
Welcome to the predatory State of California--even if you don't live there. If any mainstream media journalist wants to pursue this story, email me and I will put you in touch with R.T.
Somehow I doubt this is a unique story. R.T. said he immediately tried to call the California Franchise Tax Board and was on hold for some time before his call was dropped. As of yesterday his attempts to contact the agency via phone were unsuccessful. Why are we not surprised by any of this? Perhaps it's because government/bank thievery and Catch-22 incompetence is now the backdrop of our culture.
This is from a couple of years ago, but I thought it postworthy.
Curious if an explanation was found for the ding.
Not unusual and similar to my own experience. Franchise Tax Board has long been known to be predatory. I would never move back to CA but they think they own me because I once did. Desperate measures those folks employ.
Before giving me any prior notification whatsoever, the State of Calfornia garnisheed my wages in the amount of about $6.00. The accountant for my employer asked me why I didn't pay my state income tax, and I responded by saying I owed no income tax and didn't know anything about any claims from the State of California.
When I tries to contact the state on the telephone and in person, they refused to answer the telephone for hours and days at a time and refused to see me in person unless sit was about business taxes.
When I sent letters with a complaint, they went unanswered. I finally managed to contact their offices by telephone, but i was told I had owed no state income taxes. When asked why they garnisheed the wages, they said that was a different office and department. After long efforts to contact that office and many refusals to discuss anything, I finally got someone to report that their office garnisheed my wages because the other office said I owned the income tax, and I would d have to contact the other office. I responded by saying I had already talked to the other office and they said they couldn't do anything because I never owed such an income tax and would have to talk to you to straighten out the problem. No, they said, they couldn't do anything until the other office reported I did not own the income tax. And as it went around and around with the two office pointing fingers of blame at each other for months. Finally I got someone on the telephone who unofficially tried to help and told me who I could write to ask for a their personal look into the problem. So, I wrote the letter, and many weeks later I finally received a refund check for the $6.00, but not for the long distance telephone charges and postage of many times that amount needed to get them to acknowledge and do something about the complaint.
Ultimately, I was told the problem occurred because one office was supposed to record the income tax liabilities and the other office was supposed to handle the accounts receivable, and the two offices failed and refused to communicate with each other to reconcile the taxpayer’s account and record the correct balance.
I wonder what would happen if all non-Cali residents, or at least the expats, filed CA tax returns, stating NIL on every line. Owe nothing, but completely bog down the system.
Our theftocrats in cali are hard at work. They never do a damn thing for anyone but themselves.
Sounds like the Philly parking ticket scheme on steroids.
!
California has been doing this for decades. My husband was from California but had worked outside the state for several years when he was targeted by the Franchise Board back in the early 70s! Took forever to get it straightened out.
I lived in for part of the 80s and 90s. I remember reading an article back then about how California had set up a tax office in Las Vegas where their only job was to find retirees who had fled California, but had tax-deferred retirements (i.e., IRAs, pensions, 401k’s, etc.) that they were cashing in (and paying only federal tax on).
California wanted their tax money now...even though these people did not live in California anymore and lived in a state without an income tax. I believe the same thing happened to Californians that retired in Florida.
I’m not known for planning ahead, especially when it comes to retirement, but the fear of having California (the only state I know of that did this) chasing me around the country was enough for me to get out of there once and for all. And, like just about everyone else that fled, I have never regretted it.
“No, they said, they couldn’t do anything until the other office reported I did not own the income tax. And as it went around and around with the two office pointing fingers of blame at each other for months.”
Sounds like the insurance company in the movie Rainmaker.
>>Ultimately, I was told the problem occurred because one office was supposed to record the income tax liabilities and the other office was supposed to handle the accounts receivable, and the two offices failed and refused to communicate with each other to reconcile the taxpayer’s account and record the correct balance.<<
Obviously, they don’t reconcile their accounts properly at month-end. Nor does their accounting system conform to GAAP.
Thanks Renfield. G’night all.
Here’s hoping this insanity stays in the land of fruits and nuts...though with dear leader in office, one has to worry.
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