BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 571
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
571 (Brown) - As Amended May 4, 2015
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|Policy |Revenue and Taxation |Vote:|9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: >
SUMMARY:
This bill conforms the "reasonable cause" standard for abating
penalties related to failure to timely file a change in
ownership statement or business property statement to other
property tax law penalty abatement provisions, requiring the
assessee to establish the failure was due to reasonable cause,
the circumstances were beyond the assessee's control, and the
failure occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary care
in the absence of willful neglect.
FISCAL EFFECT:
AB 571
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Minor and absorbable administrative costs to the Board of
Equalization (BOE); minimal revenue impact.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill eliminates
confusion over the legal standard for abating penalties for
failure to file a change in ownership. The bill changes the
standard from one of reasonable cause and not willful neglect
to the standard used in other property tax law abatement
provisions.
2)Property Tax Penalty Abatement. Penalties are assessed
against those who fail to file, in a timely manner, change in
ownership, or change in control, statements to ensure
assessors are informed. The penalty may be abated if the
owner establishes to the satisfaction of BOE or the county
assessment appeals board that a failure to file was due to
reasonable cause and not willful neglect. County assessment
appeals boards have the authority to abate penalties for a
number of violations of the property tax law, however, and
this bill aligns the reasonable cause standard with that used
in other abatement provisions.
Analysis Prepared by:Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 571
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