Monday, June 16, 2008

Got tax problems in California?

Maybe you forgot to file? Maybe you used some interesting methods? Maybe you think you don't owe enough to draw attention?

Better get your shit straight. The tax man cometh.

California's in a financial crunch, and apparently they're trying to resolve it by getting caught up on back-taxes.

I've had two coworkers in the last month be visited by late notices on tax problems up to 3 years old for at little as $128.

Each missed the first notice in the mail, and freaked the fuck out when the State franchise board initiated wage garnishment. In both instances wages were garnished to the tune of $600 before a simple phone call was made, lowering subsequent garnishments to $100-$300.

Resolving the issues (nothing sinister, just honest mistakes, AFAIK) was as simple as a 30 minute phone call. The garnishments, however, extend to 10 weeks no matter the cost, whereupon the citizen will be reimbursed for all the garnishments minus the amount owed in taxes. (no interest, of course...)

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

1 comment:

Fletch said...

The feds however, (as near as I can figure) are still quite behind, and flustered with what to do about the dramatic increases in tax delinquency. You can toss wesley snipes in jail, but that won't make regular folks resume filing.

I would like to attribute this rise in delinquency to "opting out," but what I'm hearing doesn't support that. Seems people are just on hard times. If the hard times last long enough, people will be afraid to simply "resume" once they get caught up on cash, and the feds will have to offer an amnesty (IE: "Please give us your money again. We're sorry we took too much.")

Hell, maybe this will turn into an unexpected "reset button."