COT-FTB Q&A Annual Forum Provides Valued Info Exchange.

• Author: DeRosa, Gina L.
• Position: California Tax

CalCPA'S Committee on Taxation recently met with the FTB for the annual liaison meeting. Prior to the meeting, committee members submitted questions to the FTB. What follows is an excerpt of that Q&A. For a full transcript, visit alcpa.org/government-relations/advocacy.

Q: With COVID-19, has there been a significant increase in the number of taxpayers requesting assistance from the Taxpayer Rights Advocate?

A: No. However there have been more contacts to our Customer Service and Tax Practitioner Hotline asking about the Golden State Stimulus payments and the Health Care Mandate penalties.

Q: What are the current staffing levels, and what are the projected staffing levels?

A: The Advocates Office has 12 team members: a Section Manager; a Trade Media Liaison; two Technical Advisors to the Advocatel; a Tax News Editor; an Advocate Trend Specialist; a Small Business Liaison; three Advocate Account Resolution Team members; and two members of the Tax Appeals Assistance Program.

We are in the process of hiring one more Technical Advisor to participate in our Enterprise Data to Revenue 2 project to replace FTB's aging audit, filing enforcement, and underpayment systems.

Q: Please provide any statistics regarding issuances of NOAs and NPAs since the COVID-19 pandemic, including whether the percentages of NOAs and NPAS defaulted increased (i.e. with no Protests or Appeals being filed). Is administrative relief available for taxpayers who did not timely protest or appeal due to not receiving the NOAs or NPAs timely due to COVID-19?

A: The number of assessments and protests since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic is comparable to years prior. We do not have data on why a taxpayer chooses not to file a protest. Pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 18416, if we mailed the NPA to the taxpayer's last known address, the notice satisfies due process, even if the taxpayer did not receive the NPA timely because of COVID-19. If a protest is received after the statutory 60-day period, the protest cannot be considered timely filed. The Taxpayer Rights Advocate will work with Protest management if contacted about a case with due process concerns.

FTB Pass-through Entity Update The FTB was working to create necessary forms and provide guidance to taxpayers and their representatives about the Pass-through Entity Tax (PTE) legislation.

PTE legislation, under AB 150, allows electing qualified pass-through entities to pay California state tax at a flat...