Comment by throwfarawayyy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwfarawayyy | Hacker News Reader

I tangled with the FTB a few years ago. I’ve never lived in California or spent more than a couple consecutive days in the state. My employer was based in LA and screwed up my tax status in the payroll system. I somehow had no state income tax withheld for the year(I blithely filed and paid in my home state), paid a bunch of LA city taxes, and ended up with the FTB coming after me for tens of thousands in unpaid taxes and penalties.

The thing that was really unbelievable was how threatening and aggressive they were. When I got someone on the phone they refused to admit that there could be any way that I, a non-resident who never set foot in the state that tax year, could claim that my income wasn’t subject to their tax regime. Nope, it’s all California source income. That’s what they claim. And they make their documentation as confusing as possible, dark patterns at their best.

Eventually I got it sorted out. Never could figure out how to get my money back from Los Angeles.

You're story doesn't really make much sense. For starters, Los Angeles does not have an income tax (and indeed, no city in CA does, as that is illegal under CA's constitution).

When I got someone on the phone they refused to admit that there could be any way that I, a non-resident who never set foot in the state that tax year, could claim that my income wasn’t subject to their tax regime. Nope, it’s all California source income.

If you've never lived in CA you wouldn't have owed income tax on more than the portion of the salary you received for the few days you were in CA, and certainly not tens of thousands, unless your employer claimed you were a CA-based employee. In which case your beef is with your employer, not with the CA FTB, as the FTB is merely relying on the documentation provided by your employer.

And they make their documentation as confusing as possible, dark patterns at their best.

As a tax lawyer, I deal with the FTB pretty regularly. They're usually helpful, and the agents I've dealt with have been remarkably easy to work with in addressing penalties, past-due taxes/returns, etc.

Never could figure out how to get my money back from Los Angeles.

Why do you think you paid money to LA? LA does not collect income taxes.

This makes a lot of sense considering I could never find any information whatsoever about tax collection in LA. I guess somebody else got those dollars in the local tax on the w-2, I could never figure it out. It was maybe $1200 too.

Never ever deal with the IRS or any government agency on the phone. Always send a certified mail explaining your situation and documentation. They genuinely respond better. The phone operators have frustrated people yelling at them all day long and consider their outdated systems the source of truth. If the computer says you owe them, it must be true.

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