In response to the requests for documents that I had made in October 2020, FTB did provide amortization tables showing how they calculated the interest that they charged us. I went through the amortization schedules line by line and caught FTB overcharging interest via four different mechanisms:
1. FTB’s accounting system seems to systematically add small amounts of excess interest.
2. FTB staff can apparently manually override the system to artificially inflate interest due. (In 2018, I’d caught another instance of this, as well).
I have caught California’s income tax agency, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), running multiple schemes where they embezzle taxpayer’s money, then impose penalties which would not had been imposed had the money not been embezzled. The false imposition of fees is the crime of racketeering. I’ve also caught them overcharging interest.
I have filed an Accusation in the California Supreme Courtin which I detail how the schemes work, show the relevant legal codes that proves they are illegal, and then detail how FTB falsely makes these unlawful practices appear to be legitimate. I also call out the administrative court judges at the Office of Tax Appeals, as well as the California Bar Association, for their roles in covering up the criminal activities.
I have filed an Accusation with the California Supreme Court against Eric Yadao, who is employed by the Franchise Tax Board as an attorney (part 1, part 2).
An Accusation is basically a request to revoke Mr. Yadao’s license to practice law because of unethical and/or unlawful behavior.
In this Accusation, I clearly detail that FTB is running multiple embezzlement and racketeering schemes, and that they are also overcharging interest. On pages 5 – 20, I detailed how the schemes work. On pages 4 – 16, I listed the legal codes that these schemes violate and why. On pages 23 – 38, I showed exactly how Mr. Yadao covered up FTB’s unlawful activities via improper redactions, improper omissions, false arguments and false statements..
Summary: I have been trying to get the Franchise Tax Board to end some blatantly illegal business practices. The basics are:
1. The FTB is illegally putting your estimated tax payments into a general slush fund instead of into your account. The money isn’t put into your account until you file your return for that year; basically, the State of CA is temporarily embezzling your money. If you file late, they harass you for payments that would not be owed/impose penalties that would not have been assessed had the money been applied to your account in accordance with the law.
In the Unlawful Schemes post, I also stated that on two of their accounting ledgers, the FTB has a strange adjustment that look like attempts to overcharge interest.
In late 2017, I asked the FTB to send me a copy of my 2014 accounting ledger. In the version that they sent me, the line item says “FTB Adjustment: -$8.37.” When I asked the FTB’s representative what that meant, she said “Oh, it doesn’t really affect you.” In the version that the FTB submitted to the OTA court, they redacted the line completely. When I asked the FTB to send unreacted ledgers, their version says “Write Off.” All three versions of the ledger are here.
Summary: I have caught the Franchise Tax Board, California’s Income Tax Collection Agency, utilizing an assortment of unlawful practices to scam extra tax money out of people (Section 1). I have been trying to put a stop to this government corruption (section 2). If you’d like to help me, I have suggestions at the bottom (section 3).
Both former Governor Brown and current Governor Newsom are actively protecting these schemes, as are State Controller Betty Yee and an assortment of other legislators.
Here is a video of me giving an 8-minute speech to legislators in December 2018, asking them to end some of these schemes. Since I was limited to only eight minutes, I couldn’t address all of the schemes that I’ve found. In the video, I flat out accused them of racketeering, along with other assorted violations. Even though they had more time to speak, the FTB only gave a 2-minute response. Susan Maples only responded to two of the eight items that I brought up, and Jozel Brunett gave a blanket statement that FTB is not doing anything unlawful.
