A long time ago, on a tax return far far away
There was a song by the Bobby Fuller Four. "I Fought The Law (and the law won)". I'm feeling like I'm in that fight right now. A few years ago, the California Franchise Tax Board and I had a dispute over my 2005 CA return. Without getting into the complexities or specifics of the deductions involved, they made an error and tried to dun me for taxes I didn't owe. In doing so, they ended up giving in on what I wanted but I still owed some money. Now we didn't settle that up until 2009.
As you may know, I got ill and nearly died in the first half of 2010. Before I'd paid them. I knew I had a refund coming for 2009 when I filed the CA return in 2010 and decided to let them take it to pay the balance due. However I collapsed before filing. While I was ill, the balance did get paid.
Now I come to find that they've garnished my wages and claim I still owe this balance (it's less than $1,000 but is still annoying as hell). I spent an hour on hold before their hold system rudely hung up on me. That was after making six calls just to get past the recording that said "due to an extremely high volume of calls, we are unable to help you at this time. Please call back later." Now I've gotten through again, and I'm waiting for them to call me back. Anyone want to lay odds on whether or not they will call me back before 5, when they all log off and go home? I was told a hold time of between 52 and 77 minutes, just before 3 p.m., so we will see what happens.
It is possible that they went back and made yet another adjustment to my 2005 return, but I don't think that's what happened. I should have gotten a notice. I'm not furious yet, but my gauge is moving in that direction.
So it turns out that the blame for this is mostly on ADP and a little on the FTB for not sending a notice of termination to ADP (or to my employer who would send it on to ADP). But the reason ADP (and my employer I guess) is mostly to blame is this section of the California Code of Civil Procedure:
706.078. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the employer
shall not withhold pursuant to a withholding order for taxes from
earnings of the employee payable for any pay period of such employee
that ends prior to the 10th day after service of the order.
(b) A "jeopardy withholding order for taxes," which shall be
denoted as such on its face, is a withholding order for taxes that
requires that the employer withhold pursuant to the order from
earnings due to the employee at the time of service of the order on
the employer and from earnings thereafter due. A jeopardy withholding
order for taxes may be issued only where the state has determined
that the collection of a state tax liability will be jeopardized in
whole or in part by delaying the time when withholding from earnings
commences.
(c) An employer shall continue to withhold pursuant to a
withholding order for taxes until the amount specified in the order
has been paid in full or the order is withdrawn, except that the
order automatically terminates one year after the employment of the
employee by the employer terminates. The state shall promptly serve
on the employer a notice terminating the withholding order for taxes
if the state tax liability for which the withholding order for taxes
was issued is satisfied before the employer has withheld the full
amount specified in the order, and the employer shall discontinue
withholding in compliance with such notice.
My employment with my current employer ended when I got sick. Now they may not have known right then in June of 2010 it was over, but by January of 2011 they should have known. We're not just one year past that now, we're two years past that. The order automatically terminated more than a year ago and yet they're still using it. The balance was paid.
I spent 45 minutes more of wasted time on the phone with a clueless moron at ADP who couldn't find a supervisor and couldn't find the above language on the paperwork scanned into their computer. Maybe he has reading difficulties. But when he finally hung up on me, I called back and talked to someone named David who was very helpful. Maybe he can get it fixed. He is trying. If not, I'm going to be very, very unhappy.
As you may know, I got ill and nearly died in the first half of 2010. Before I'd paid them. I knew I had a refund coming for 2009 when I filed the CA return in 2010 and decided to let them take it to pay the balance due. However I collapsed before filing. While I was ill, the balance did get paid.
Now I come to find that they've garnished my wages and claim I still owe this balance (it's less than $1,000 but is still annoying as hell). I spent an hour on hold before their hold system rudely hung up on me. That was after making six calls just to get past the recording that said "due to an extremely high volume of calls, we are unable to help you at this time. Please call back later." Now I've gotten through again, and I'm waiting for them to call me back. Anyone want to lay odds on whether or not they will call me back before 5, when they all log off and go home? I was told a hold time of between 52 and 77 minutes, just before 3 p.m., so we will see what happens.
It is possible that they went back and made yet another adjustment to my 2005 return, but I don't think that's what happened. I should have gotten a notice. I'm not furious yet, but my gauge is moving in that direction.
So it turns out that the blame for this is mostly on ADP and a little on the FTB for not sending a notice of termination to ADP (or to my employer who would send it on to ADP). But the reason ADP (and my employer I guess) is mostly to blame is this section of the California Code of Civil Procedure:
706.078. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the employer
shall not withhold pursuant to a withholding order for taxes from
earnings of the employee payable for any pay period of such employee
that ends prior to the 10th day after service of the order.
(b) A "jeopardy withholding order for taxes," which shall be
denoted as such on its face, is a withholding order for taxes that
requires that the employer withhold pursuant to the order from
earnings due to the employee at the time of service of the order on
the employer and from earnings thereafter due. A jeopardy withholding
order for taxes may be issued only where the state has determined
that the collection of a state tax liability will be jeopardized in
whole or in part by delaying the time when withholding from earnings
commences.
(c) An employer shall continue to withhold pursuant to a
withholding order for taxes until the amount specified in the order
has been paid in full or the order is withdrawn, except that the
order automatically terminates one year after the employment of the
employee by the employer terminates. The state shall promptly serve
on the employer a notice terminating the withholding order for taxes
if the state tax liability for which the withholding order for taxes
was issued is satisfied before the employer has withheld the full
amount specified in the order, and the employer shall discontinue
withholding in compliance with such notice.
My employment with my current employer ended when I got sick. Now they may not have known right then in June of 2010 it was over, but by January of 2011 they should have known. We're not just one year past that now, we're two years past that. The order automatically terminated more than a year ago and yet they're still using it. The balance was paid.
I spent 45 minutes more of wasted time on the phone with a clueless moron at ADP who couldn't find a supervisor and couldn't find the above language on the paperwork scanned into their computer. Maybe he has reading difficulties. But when he finally hung up on me, I called back and talked to someone named David who was very helpful. Maybe he can get it fixed. He is trying. If not, I'm going to be very, very unhappy.
posted by me at 5:06 PM
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