Category: Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting

Every year at their December meeting, the public is allowed to present suggestions on how to make FTB better.

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FTB’s Response to My 2022 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Requests

As is required under Revenue and Taxation Code (RTC) 21006(a)(2), every year, the Franchise Tax Board allows the general public to make requests for changes to laws, policies and/or procedures that pertain to FTB.

I participated in the December 2022 meeting by submitting a set of requests in writing on November 29, 2022 and an oral request of the same items at the meeting held on December 8, 2022. Here is the video of my speech from my perspective:

The full FTB Board meeting is here. My speech is from 14:25 – 19:46.

On January 31, 2023, FTB provided a written response to my request. For Item #4, they stated “FTB will provide you with a supplemental response by February 28, 2023, or sooner.” 

On February 2, 2023, I sent my own response to FTB’s written response. In it, I stated:

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Eleven (11) Requests for FTB’s 2022 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting 

Every year, the Franchise Tax Board hosts the Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting, where constituents can make suggestions on how to change tax law and/or FTB policy and procedure to improve the system. FTB asks that you send them a written Request in advance, but it is not required; verbal Requests are accepted. Whether or not people can make a written request without speaking at the meeting is questionable. FTB let me do so in 2017, but others have told me FTB says that is not allowed.

Below is the written submission that I sent to FTB for the 2022 meeting. I participated in the meeting remotely; here is the video that I made of myself giving the speech.

Here is the text of the speech, which is shorter than written submission. The video of the full meeting is here, and I spoke from 14:35 – 19:45.

November 29, 2022

Franchise Tax Board Taxpayer Advocate Office

Email: FTBAdvocate@ftb.ca.gov. 

CC: FTB Board Members and Executives

Re: Eleven (11) Requests for Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting

Hello Taxpayer Advocate Staff: 

Here are my eleven (11) requests for the 2022 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting. I’ve included the Board Members on this email, as well. Since I know most of you are too busy to read long letters, I have highlighted the key sentence of each item.

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Ten (10) Requests for 2021 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting

This year’s Franchise Tax Board Annual Taxpayers Bill of Rights Meeting was held online on Thursday, December 2, 2021. Here is the five-minute speech that I made.

The full video of the 1+ hour meeting is here.

FTB prefers, but does not require, that you submit the requests in writing prior to the meeting so they know what to expect. There is no limit to how long a written submission can be, so my written submission was much longer and more detailed than the speech was.

Written Version of the ATBOR Requests

November 30, 2021

Franchise Tax Board Taxpayer Advocate Office

Email: FTBAdvocate@ftb.ca.gov. 

Fax: (916) 843-8330

Re: Ten (10) Requests for Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting

Hello Taxpayer Advocate Staff: 

Here are my ten (10) requests for the 2021 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting.

  1. Close the Loophole That Allows FTB To Evade Due Process for Implementation of Collection Tools

Require that FTB appear before a Superior Court judge to procure a proper judgment in accordance with the laws of the State of California prior to implementation of Collection tools, including wage garnishments, levies and liens. Please see email dated October 23, 2021 for details. 

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My Rebuttal to FTB’s Response to My 2020 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Request

Here is FTB’s Response to my 2020 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Requests. Here is the rebuttal that I wrote in which I detail the following:

  • The Interim Taxpayer Rights Advocate, Chris Smith, committed multiple counts of collusion to cover up criminal activity by misrepresenting what the law says about FTB’s practices of withholding estimated tax payments from the taxpayer’s account .
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FTB’s 2020 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting

Here is the full speech that I tried to give at FTB’s 2020 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Meeting (12 minutes).

For those that prefer reading over video, here is the written speech.

Unfortunately, State Controller Yee muted me after 5 minutes. Here is how the speech sounded to the FTB audience:

CA FTB Dec 18 2020 Call Video 1

The whole meeting is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTgFO5uADxo. My speech is from 51:24 – 57:21 

Usually, FTB lets people speak for 8 minutes, and last year they let me talk for 11 minutes without cutting me off.

Controller Yee said that they had already received my written submission (which was longer and more detailed than the speech), and all of the requests I’d made would be addressed in their response due on February 1, 2021.

Just like last year, FTB did not deny any of the allegations that I made, neither verbally at the meeting nor in their written response . If my allegations were false, FTB would have denied them.

I think it was obvious to everyone that regularly attends these meetings that the Board knew what I was going to say and the Board cut the time short this year stop me from speaking the truth.

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Summary of FTB Crimes and Update on My Efforts To Stop Them

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.  

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Rebuttal to FTB’s Response to My Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Request

FTB’s response to the 13 policy change requests that I made is short, terse and riddled with problems.

Item 1: End Policy of withholding estimated tax payments made via credit elects

FTB wrote: The Franchise Tax Board previously addressed this issue in the 2018 Taxpayer Bill of Rights response to you, dated January 25, 2019.

Rebuttal: In my written submission, I clearly detailed how they had committed one count of collusion to cover up racketeering by misrepresenting what the law said in Commissioner V Lundy. I also re-sent them a copy of the 2018 letter to Governor Brown in which I cited several more times that the FTB committed the crime of collusion to cover up racketeering on this topic. In this response, FTB did not dispute my interpretation of the assorted laws they falsely cited, nor offer any valid laws.

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Written Submission for the FTB’s 2019 Annual Taxpayers Bill of Rights Meeting

2019 Annual Taxpayer Bill of Rights Requests

1. End the policy of withholding estimated tax payments made via credit elects.

This policy violates R&TC 19363, which says “Any amount paid as estimated tax for any taxable year shall be deemed to have been paid on the last day prescribed for filing the return for the taxable year (determined without regard to any extension of time for filing the return),” which in simple English means that no matter what date you filed the previous year’s return, the credit elect payment must be credited on tax day, which is usually April 15 or 16. 

However, the FTB does not apply these payments in accordance with the law; instead, the FTB puts the credit elect money into “suspense,” which is a fancy word for the general slush fund. The credit elect money does not get moved from the slush fund until the taxpayer files that year’s return. The FTB claims this policy is in line with federal practices, but that is a lie; the IRS does not withhold payments made via credit elects. 

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Video of Speech I Made to State Controller Betty Yee on Dec. 3, 2019

FTB Meeting Dec 2019 – Christi Section

State Controller Betty Yee is the Chair of the Franchise Tax Board’s Board of Directors. She is the woman on the stage who calls me to the podium before I speak, and thanks me at the end of my speech. The women seated at the table with her are (from left to right): Gayle Miller, who was there on behalf of Keely Bosler, who is the Director of the Department of Finance and the second FTB Board Member, Yvette Stowers, who is Betty Yee’s Deputy that normally attends the meetings in lieu of Betty, and Malia Cohen, who was at the time Chairman of the Board of Equalization and the third Board Member.

At the FTB table on the other side of the state are (from left to right): Dawn Casey, who works in the legal department; Shane Hofeling; Jozel Brunett, who is Chief, Legal Counsel; Selvi Stanislaus, who is Executive Officer; and Susan Maples, who Taxpayer Advocate. Notice that the FTB waived their right to offer a rebuttal/response to my speech — not denying what I said to be true is a tacit admission of guilt.

The text of my speech is here. Please note that the speech had a time limit, thus was shorter and less detailed than the written submission that I provided prior to the speech. The written submission is here. The video of the entire FTB meeting is here.