BILL NUMBER: AB 658 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Charles Calderon
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to amend Section 107 Sections
30459.15, 50156.18, and 55332.5 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, relating to taxation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 658, as amended, Charles Calderon. Possessory
interests. State Board of Equalization:
administration.
Existing law provides for the administration of various taxes,
fees, and surcharges by the State Board of Equalization. The
Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law, Underground Storage Tank
Maintenance Fee Law, and Fee Collection Procedures Law authorize the
State Board of Equalization to compromise a final tax, fee, or
surcharge liability that was generated from a business that has been
discontinued or transferred, as specified. The Fee Collection
Procedures Law makes any person who takes certain willful actions in
connection with an offer or compromise under that law, including
receiving, withholding, destroying, mutilating, or falsifying any
book, document, or record, or making any false statement relating to
the estate fee, guilty of a felony, punishable as specified.
This bill would revise these provisions to make a person who
receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any book,
document, or record or makes any false statement relating to the
estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person liable
with respect to the fee guilty of a felony, as specified. The bill
would also make other nonsubstantive changes.
By expanding the scope of existing criminal penalties, this bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing property tax law requires that all property subject to
tax be assessed at its full value, and includes certain possessory
interests among those property interests subject to tax. Existing
property tax law defines a taxable possessory interest to be a use
that is independent, durable, and exclusive.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 30459.15 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code , as amended by
Section 574 of Chapter 15 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to
read:
30459.15. (a) (1) Beginning on January 1, 2007, the executive
director and chief counsel of the board, or their delegates, may
compromise any final tax liability where the reduction of tax is
seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the board, upon
recommendation by its executive director and chief counsel, jointly,
may compromise a final tax liability involving a reduction in tax in
excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). Any
recommendation for approval of an offer in compromise that is not
either approved or disapproved within 45 days of the submission of
the recommendation shall be deemed approved.
(3) The board, itself, may by resolution delegate to the executive
director and the chief counsel, jointly, the authority to compromise
a final tax liability in which the reduction of tax is in excess of
seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), but less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "a final tax liability" means
any final tax liability arising under Part 13 (commencing with
Section 30001), or related interest, additions to tax, penalties, or
other amounts assessed under this part.
(c) Offers in compromise shall be considered only for liabilities
that were generated by the following:
(1) A business that has been discontinued or transferred, where
the taxpayer making the offer no longer has a controlling interest or
association with the transferred business or has a controlling
interest or association with a similar type of business as the
transferred or discontinued business.
(2) A taxpayer that has purchased untaxed cigarettes or tobacco
products from out-of-state vendors for their own use or consumption.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or (2), a qualified final tax
liability may be compromised regardless of whether the business has
been discontinued or transferred or whether the taxpayer has a
controlling interest or association with a similar type of business
as the transferred or discontinued business. All other provisions of
this section that apply to a final tax liability shall also apply to
a qualified final tax liability, and no compromise shall be made
under this subdivision unless all other requirements of this section
are met. For purposes of this subdivision, a "qualified final tax
liability" means either of the following:
(A) That part of a final tax liability, including related
interest, additions to tax, penalties, or other amounts assessed
under this part, arising from a transaction or transactions in which
the board finds no evidence that the taxpayer collected cigarette or
tobacco products tax reimbursement or cigarette or tobacco
products tax reimbursement from the purchaser or other
person and which was determined against the taxpayer under Article 2
(commencing with Section 30201), Article 3 (commencing with Section
30221), or Article 5 (commencing with Section 30261) of Chapter 4.
(B) That part of a final tax liability for cigarette or tobacco
products tax, including related interest, additions to tax,
penalties, or other amounts assessed under this part, determined
under Article 2 (commencing with Section 30201), Article 3
(commencing with Section 30221), and Article 5 (commencing with
Section 30261) of Chapter 4 against a taxpayer who is a consumer that
is not required to hold a license under Article 1 (commencing with
Section 30140) of Chapter 3.
(4) A qualified final tax liability may not be compromised with
any of the following:
(A) A taxpayer who previously received a compromise under
paragraph (2) (3) for a liability, or a
part thereof, arising from a transaction or transactions that are
substantially similar to the transaction or transactions attributable
to the liability for which the taxpayer is making the offer.
(B) A business that was transferred by a taxpayer who previously
received a compromise under paragraph (2) (3)
and who has a controlling interest or association with the
transferred business, when the liability for which the offer is made
is attributable to a transaction or transactions substantially
similar to the transaction or transactions for which the taxpayer's
liability was previously compromised.
(C) A business in which a taxpayer who previously received a
compromise under paragraph (2) (3) has
a controlling interest or association with a similar type of business
for which the taxpayer received the compromise, when the liability
of the business making the offer arose from a transaction or
transactions substantially similar to the transaction or transactions
for which the taxpayer's liability was previously compromised.
(d) The board may, in its discretion, enter into a written
agreement which permits the taxpayer to pay the compromise in
installments for a period not exceeding one year. The agreement may
provide that such installments shall be paid by electronic funds
transfers or any other means to facilitate the payment of each
installment.
(e) Except for any recommendation for approval as specified in
subdivision (a), the members of the State Board of Equalization shall
not participate in any offer in compromise matters pursuant to this
section.
(f) A taxpayer that has received a compromise under paragraph
(2) (3) of subdivision (c) may be
required to enter into any collateral agreement that is deemed
necessary for the protection of the interests of the state. A
collateral agreement may include a provision that allows the board to
reestablish the liability, or any portion thereof, if the taxpayer
has sufficient annual income during the succeeding five-year period.
The board shall establish criteria for determining "sufficient annual
income" for purposes of this subdivision.
(g) A taxpayer that has received a compromise under paragraph
(2) (3) of subdivision (c) shall file
and pay by the due date all subsequently required cigarette and
tobacco products tax reports or returns for a five-year period from
the date the liability is compromised, or until the taxpayer is no
longer required to file cigarette and tobacco products tax reports or
returns, whichever period is earlier.
(h) Offers in compromise shall not be considered under the
following conditions:
(1) The taxpayer has been convicted of felony tax evasion under
this part during the liability period.
(2) The taxpayer has filed a statement under paragraph (3) of
subdivision (i) and continues to purchase untaxed cigarettes or
tobacco products from out-of-state vendors for their own use or
consumption.
(i) For amounts to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The taxpayer shall establish that:
(A) The amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected
to be paid or collected from the taxpayer's present assets or
income.
(B) The taxpayer does not have reasonable prospects of acquiring
increased income or assets that would enable the taxpayer to satisfy
a greater amount of the liability than the amount offered, within a
reasonable period of time.
(2) The board shall have determined that acceptance of the
compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(3) For liabilities generated in the manner described in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c), the taxpayer shall file with the board a
statement, under penalty of perjury, that he or she will no longer
purchase untaxed cigarettes or tobacco products from out-of-state
vendors for his or her own use or consumption.
(j) A determination by the board that it would not be in the best
interest of the state to accept an offer in compromise in
satisfaction of a final tax liability shall not be subject to
administrative appeal or judicial review.
(k) (1) Offers for liabilities with a fraud or evasion penalty
shall require a minimum offer of the unpaid tax and fraud or evasion
penalty.
(2) The minimum offer may be waived if it can be shown that the
taxpayer making the offer was not the person responsible for
perpetrating the fraud or evasion. This authorization to waive only
applies to partnership accounts where the intent to commit fraud or
evasion can be clearly attributed to a partner of the taxpayer.
(l) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or rejected, or
the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are fulfilled,
the board shall notify the taxpayer in writing. In the event an offer
is rejected, the amount posted will either be applied to the
liability or refunded, at the discretion of the taxpayer.
(m) When more than one taxpayer is liable for the debt, such as
with spouses or partnerships or other business combinations,
including, but not limited to, taxpayers who are liable through dual
determination or successor's liability, the acceptance of an offer in
compromise from one liable taxpayer shall reduce the amount of the
liability of the other taxpayers by the amount of the accepted offer.
(n) Whenever a compromise of tax or penalties or total tax and
penalties in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) is approved, there
shall be placed on file for at least one year in the office of the
executive director of the board a public record with respect to that
compromise. The public record shall include all of the following
information:
(1) The name of the taxpayer.
(2) The amount of unpaid tax and related penalties, additions to
tax, interest, or other amounts involved.
(3) The amount offered.
(4) A summary of the reason why the compromise is in the best
interest of the state.
The public record shall not include any information that relates
to any trade secrets, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the taxpayer or violate the confidentiality
provisions of Section 30455. No list shall be prepared and no
releases distributed by the board in connection with these
statements.
(o) Any compromise made under this section may be rescinded, all
compromised liabilities may be reestablished, without regard to any
statute of limitations that otherwise may be applicable, and no
portion of the amount offered in compromise refunded, if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The board determines that any person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board any property belonging to the estate
of any taxpayer or other person liable for the tax.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any
book, document, or record or made any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the taxpayer or other person
liable for the tax.
(2) The taxpayer fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions relative to the offer.
(p) Any person who, in connection with any offer or compromise
under this section, or offer of that compromise to enter into that
agreement, willfully does either of the following shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both, together with the costs
of investigation and prosecution:
(1) Conceals from any officer or employee of this state any
property belonging to the estate of a taxpayer or other person liable
in respect of the tax.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any
book, document, or record, or makes any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the taxpayer or other person
liable in respect of the tax.
(q) For purposes of this section, "person" means the taxpayer, any
member of the taxpayer's family, any corporation, agent, fiduciary,
or representative of, or any other individual or entity acting on
behalf of, the taxpayer, or any other corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the taxpayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the taxpayer, directly or indirectly.
(r) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. Section 50156.18 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code , as amended by Section 590 of Chapter
15 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
50156.18. (a) (1) Beginning January 1, 2003, the executive
director and chief counsel of the board, or their delegates, may
compromise any final fee liability in which the reduction of the fee
is seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the board, upon
recommendation by its executive director and chief counsel, jointly,
may compromise a final fee liability involving a reduction in the fee
in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). Any
recommendation for approval of an offer in compromise that is not
either approved or disapproved within 45 days of the submission of
the recommendation shall be deemed approved.
(3) The board, itself, may by resolution delegate to the executive
director and the chief counsel, jointly, the authority to compromise
a final fee liability in which the reduction of the fee is in excess
of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), but less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "a final fee liability" means
any final fee liability arising under Part 26 (commencing with
Section 50101), or related interest, additions to the fee, penalties,
or other amounts assessed under this part.
(c) (1) Offers in compromise shall be considered only for
liabilities that were generated from a business that has been
discontinued or transferred, where the feepayer making the offer no
longer has a controlling interest or association with the transferred
business or has a controlling interest or association with a similar
type of business as the transferred or discontinued business.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a qualified final fee liability
may be compromised regardless of whether the business has been
discontinued or transferred or whether the feepayer has a controlling
interest or association with a similar type of business as the
transferred or discontinued business. All other provisions of this
section that apply to a final fee liability shall also apply to a
qualified final fee liability, and no compromise shall be made under
this subdivision unless all other requirements of this section are
met. For purposes of this subdivision, a "qualified final fee
liability" means that part of a final fee liability, including
related interest, additions to fee, penalties, or other amounts
assessed under this part, arising from a transaction or transactions
in which the board finds no evidence that the owner of the
underground storage tank collected underground storage tank
maintenance fee reimbursement from the operator of the underground
storage tank or other person and which was determined against the
feepayer under Article 2 (commencing with Section 50113) or Article 3
(commencing with Section 50114) of Chapter 3.
(3) A qualified final fee liability may not be compromised with
any of the following:
(A) A feepayer who previously received a compromise under
paragraph (2) for a liability, or a part thereof, arising from a
transaction or transactions that are substantially similar to the
transaction or transactions attributable to the liability for which
the feepayer is making the offer.
(B) A business that was transferred by a feepayer who previously
received a compromise under paragraph (2) and who has a controlling
interest or association with the transferred business, when the
liability for which the offer is made is attributable to a
transaction or transactions substantially similar to the transaction
or transactions for which the feepayer's liability was previously
compromised.
(C) A business in which a feepayer who previously received a
compromise under paragraph (2) has a controlling interest or
association with a similar type of business for which the feepayer
received the compromise, when the liability of the business making
the offer arose from a transaction or transactions substantially
similar to the transaction or transactions for which the feepayer's
liability was previously compromised.
(d) The board may, in its discretion, enter into a written
agreement which permits the feepayer to pay the compromise in
installments for a period not exceeding one year. The agreement may
provide that such installments shall be paid by electronic funds
transfers or any other means to facilitate the payment of each
installment.
(e) Except for any recommendation for approval as specified in
subdivision (a), the members of the State Board of Equalization shall
not participate in any offer in compromise matters pursuant to this
section.
(f) A feepayer that has received a compromise under paragraph (2)
of subdivision (c) may be required to enter into any collateral
agreement that is deemed necessary for the protection of the
interests of the state. A collateral agreement may include a
provision that allows the board to reestablish the liability, or any
portion thereof, if the feepayer has sufficient annual income during
the succeeding five-year period. The board shall establish criteria
for determining "sufficient annual income" for purposes of this
subdivision.
(g) A feepayer that has received a compromise under paragraph (2)
of subdivision (c) shall file and pay by the due date all
subsequently required underground storage tank maintenance fee
returns for a five-year period from the date the liability is
compromised, or until the feepayer is no longer required to file
underground storage tank maintenance fee returns, whichever period is
earlier.
(h) For amounts to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The feepayer shall establish that:
(A) The amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected
to be paid or collected from the feepayer's present assets or
income.
(B) The feepayer does not have reasonable prospects of acquiring
increased income or assets that would enable the feepayer to satisfy
a greater amount of the liability than the amount offered, within a
reasonable period of time.
(2) The board shall have determined that acceptance of the
compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(i) A determination by the board that it would not be in the best
interest of the state to accept an offer in compromise in
satisfaction of a final fee liability shall not be subject to
administrative appeal or judicial review.
(j) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or rejected, or
the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are fulfilled,
the board shall notify the feepayer in writing. In the event an offer
is rejected, the amount posted will either be applied to the
liability or refunded, at the discretion of the feepayer.
(k) When more than one feepayer is liable for the debt, such as
with spouses or partnerships or other business combinations, the
acceptance of an offer in compromise from one liable feepayer shall
not relieve the other feepayers from paying the entire liability.
However, the amount of the liability shall be reduced by the amount
of the accepted offer.
(l) Whenever a compromise of the fee or penalties or total fees
and penalties in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) is approved,
there shall be placed on file for at least one year in the office of
the executive director of the board a public record with respect to
that compromise. The public record shall include all of the following
information:
(1) The name of the feepayer.
(2) The amount of unpaid fees and related penalties, additions to
fees, interest, or other amounts involved.
(3) The amount offered.
(4) A summary of the reason why the compromise is in the best
interest of the state.
The public record shall not include any information that relates
to any trade secrets, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the feepayer or violate the confidentiality
provisions of Chapter 8 of Article 2 (commencing
with Section 50156) 50159) . No list
shall be prepared and no releases distributed by the board in
connection with these statements.
(m) Any compromise made under this section may be rescinded, all
compromised liabilities may be reestablished (without regard to any
statute of limitations that otherwise may be applicable), and no
portion of the amount offered in compromise refunded, if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The board determines that any person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board any property belonging to the estate
of any feepayer or other person liable for the fee.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any
book, document, or record or made any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable for the fee.
(2) The feepayer fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions relative to the offer.
(n) Any person who, in connection with any offer or compromise
under this section, or offer of that compromise to enter into that
agreement, willfully does either of the following shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both, together with the costs
of investigation and prosecution:
(1) Conceals from any officer or employee of this state any
property belonging to the estate of a feepayer or other person liable
in respect of the fee.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any
book, document, or record, or makes any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable in respect of the fee.
(o) For purposes of this section, "person" means the feepayer, any
member of the feepayer's family, any corporation, agent, fiduciary,
or representative of, or any other individual or entity acting on
behalf of, the feepayer, or any other corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the feepayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the feepayer, directly or indirectly.
(p) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 50156.18 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code , as amended by Section 591 of Chapter
15 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
50156.18. (a) (1) The executive director and chief counsel of the
board, or their delegates, may compromise any final fee liability in
which the reduction of the fee is seven thousand five hundred
dollars ($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the board, upon
recommendation by its executive director and chief counsel, jointly,
may compromise a final fee liability involving a reduction in the fee
in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). Any
recommendation for approval of an offer in compromise that is not
either approved or disapproved within 45 days of the submission of
the recommendation shall be deemed approved.
(3) The board, itself, may by resolution delegate to the executive
director and the chief counsel, jointly, the authority to compromise
a final fee liability in which the reduction of the fee is in excess
of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), but less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "a final fee liability" means
any final fee liability arising under Part 26 (commencing with
Section 50101), or related interest, additions to the fee, penalties,
or other amounts assessed under this part.
(c) Offers in compromise shall be considered only for liabilities
that were generated from a business that has been discontinued or
transferred, where the feepayer making the offer no longer has a
controlling interest or association with the transferred business or
has a controlling interest or association with a similar type of
business as the transferred or discontinued business.
(d) For amounts to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The feepayer shall establish that:
(A) The amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected
to be paid or collected from the feepayer's present assets or
income.
(B) The feepayer does not have reasonable prospects of acquiring
increased income or assets that would enable the feepayer to satisfy
a greater amount of the liability than the amount offered, within a
reasonable period of time.
(2) The board shall have determined that acceptance of the
compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(e) A determination by the board that it would not be in the best
interest of the state to accept an offer in compromise in
satisfaction of a final fee liability shall not be subject to
administrative appeal or judicial review.
(f) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or rejected, or
the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are fulfilled,
the board shall notify the feepayer in writing. In the event an offer
is rejected, the amount posted will either be applied to the
liability or refunded, at the discretion of the feepayer.
(g) When more than one feepayer is liable for the debt, such as
with spouses or partnerships or other business combinations, the
acceptance of an offer in compromise from one liable feepayer shall
not relieve the other feepayers from paying the entire liability.
However, the amount of the liability shall be reduced by the amount
of the accepted offer.
(h) Whenever a compromise of the fee or penalties or total fees
and penalties in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) is approved,
there shall be placed on file for a least one year in the office of
the executive director of the board a public record with respect to
that compromise. The public record shall include all of the following
information:
(1) The name of the feepayer.
(2) The amount of unpaid fees and related penalties, additions to
fees, interest, or other amounts involved.
(3) The amount
offered.
(4) A summary of the reason why the compromise is in the best
interest of the state.
The public record shall not include any information that relates
to any trade secrets, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the feepayer or violate the confidentiality
provisions of Chapter 8 of Article 2 (commencing
with Section 50156) 50159) . No list
shall be prepared and no releases distributed by the board in
connection with these statements.
(i) Any compromise made under this section may be rescinded, all
compromised liabilities may be reestablished (without regard to any
statute of limitations that otherwise may be applicable), and no
portion of the amount offered in compromise refunded, if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The board determines that any person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board any property belonging to the estate
of any feepayer or other person liable for the fee.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any
book, document, or record or made any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable for the fee.
(2) The feepayer fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions relative to the offer.
(j) Any person who, in connection with any offer or compromise
under this section, or offer of that compromise to enter into that
agreement, willfully does either of the following shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both, together with the costs
of investigation and prosecution:
(1) Conceals from any officer or employee of this state any
property belonging to the estate of a feepayer or other person liable
in respect of the fee.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any
book, document, or record, or makes any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable in respect of the fee.
(k) For purposes of this section, "person" means the feepayer, any
member of the feepayer's family, any corporation, agent, fiduciary,
or representative of, or any other individual or entity acting on
behalf of, the feepayer, or any other corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the feepayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the feepayer, directly or indirectly.
(l) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2013.
SEC. 4. Section 55332.5 of the Revenue
and Taxation Code , as amended by Section 592 of Chapter
15 of Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
55332.5. (a) (1) Beginning on January 1, 2007, the executive
director and chief counsel of the board, or their delegates, may
compromise any final fee liability where the reduction of fees is
seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the board, upon
recommendation by its executive director and chief counsel, jointly,
may compromise a final fee liability involving a reduction in fees in
excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). Any
recommendation for approval of an offer in compromise that is not
either approved or disapproved within 45 days of the submission of
the recommendation shall be deemed approved.
(3) The board, itself, may by resolution delegate to the executive
director and the chief counsel, jointly, the authority to compromise
a final fee liability in which the reduction of fees is in excess of
seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), but less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "a final fee liability" means
any final fee liability arising under Part 30 (commencing with
Section 55001), or related interest, additions to fees, penalties, or
other amounts assessed under this part.
(c) (1) Offers in compromise shall be considered only for
liabilities that were generated from a business that has been
discontinued or transferred, where the feepayer making the offer no
longer has a controlling interest or association with the transferred
business or has a controlling interest or association with a similar
type of business as the transferred or discontinued business.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a qualified final fee liability
may be compromised regardless of whether the business has been
discontinued or transferred or whether the feepayer has a controlling
interest or association with a similar type of business as the
transferred or discontinued business. All other provisions of this
section that apply to a final fee liability shall also apply to a
qualified final fee liability, and no compromise shall be made under
this subdivision unless all other requirements of this section are
met. For purposes of this subdivision, a "qualified final fee
liability" means that part of a final fee liability, including
related interest, additions to fee, penalties, or other amounts
assessed under this part, arising from a transaction or transactions
in which the board finds no evidence that the feepayer collected the
fee from the purchaser or other person and which was determined
against the feepayer under Article 2 (commencing with Section 55061)
or Article 3 (commencing with Section 55081) of Chapter 3.
(3) A qualified final fee liability may not be compromised with
any of the following:
(A) A feepayer who previously received a compromise under
paragraph (2) for a liability, or a part thereof, arising from a
transaction or transactions that are substantially similar to the
transaction or transactions attributable to the liability for which
the feepayer is making the offer.
(B) A business that was transferred by a feepayer who previously
received a compromise under paragraph (2) and who has a controlling
interest or association with the transferred business, when the
liability for which the offer is made is attributable to a
transaction or transactions substantially similar to the transaction
or transactions for which the feepayer's liability was previously
compromised.
(C) A business in which a feepayer who previously received a
compromise under paragraph (2) has a controlling interest or
association with a similar type of business for which the feepayer
received the compromise, when the liability of the business making
the offer arose from a transaction or transactions substantially
similar to the transaction or transactions for which the feepayer's
liability was previously compromised.
(d) The board may, in its discretion, enter into a written
agreement which permits the feepayer to pay the compromise in
installments for a period not exceeding one year. The agreement may
provide that such installments shall be paid by electronic funds
transfers or any other means to facilitate the payment of each
installment.
(e) Except for any recommendation for approval as specified in
subdivision (a), the members of the State Board of Equalization shall
not participate in any offer in compromise matters pursuant to this
section.
(f) A feepayer that has received a compromise under paragraph (2)
of subdivision (c) may be required to enter into any collateral
agreement that is deemed necessary for the protection of the
interests of the state. A collateral agreement may include a
provision that allows the board to reestablish the liability, or any
portion thereof, if the feepayer has sufficient annual income during
the succeeding five-year period. The board shall establish criteria
for determining "sufficient annual income" for purposes of this
subdivision.
(g) A feepayer that has received a compromise under paragraph (2)
of subdivision (c) shall file and pay by the due date all
subsequently required returns for a five-year period from the date
the liability is compromised, or until the feepayer is no longer
required to file returns, whichever period is earlier.
(h) Offers in compromise shall not be considered where the
feepayer has been convicted of felony tax evasion under this part
during the liability period.
(i) For amounts to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The feepayer shall establish that:
(A) The amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected
to be paid or collected from the feepayer's present assets or
income.
(B) The feepayer does not have reasonable prospects of acquiring
increased income or assets that would enable the feepayer to satisfy
a greater amount of the liability than the amount offered, within a
reasonable period of time.
(2) The board shall have determined that acceptance of the
compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(j) A determination by the board that it would not be in the best
interest of the state to accept an offer in compromise in
satisfaction of a final fee liability shall not be subject to
administrative appeal or judicial review.
(k) (1) Offers for liabilities with a fraud or evasion penalty
shall require a minimum offer of the unpaid fee and fraud or evasion
penalty.
(2) The minimum offer may be waived if it can be shown that the
feepayer making the offer was not the person responsible for
perpetrating the fraud or evasion. This authorization to waive only
applies to partnership accounts where the intent to commit fraud or
evasion can be clearly attributed to a partner of the feepayer.
( l ) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or
rejected, or the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are
fulfilled, the board shall notify the feepayer in writing. In the
event an offer is rejected, the amount posted will either be applied
to the liability or refunded, at the discretion of the feepayer.
(m) When more than one feepayer is liable for the debt, such as
with spouses or partnerships or other business combinations,
including, but not limited to, feepayers who are liable through dual
determination or successor's liability, the acceptance of an offer in
compromise from one liable feepayer shall reduce the amount of the
liability of the other feepayers by the amount of the accepted offer.
(n) Whenever a compromise of fees or penalties or total fees and
penalties in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) is approved, there
shall be placed on file for at least one year in the office of the
executive director of the board a public record with respect to that
compromise. The public record shall include all of the following
information:
(1) The name of the feepayer.
(2) The amount of unpaid fees and related penalties, additions to
fees, interest, or other amounts involved.
(3) The amount offered.
(4) A summary of the reason why the compromise is in the best
interest of the state.
The public record shall not include any information that relates
to any trade secrets, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the feepayer or violate the confidentiality
provisions of Section 55381. No list shall be prepared and no
releases distributed by the board in connection with these
statements.
(o) Any compromise made under this section may be rescinded, all
compromised liabilities may be reestablished, without regard to any
statute of limitations that otherwise may be applicable, and no
portion of the amount offered in compromise refunded, if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The board determines that any person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board any property belonging to the estate
of any feepayer or other person liable for the fee.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any
book, document, or record or made any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable for the fee.
(2) The feepayer fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions relative to the offer.
(p) Any person who, in connection with any offer or compromise
under this section, or offer of that compromise to enter into that
agreement, willfully does either of the following shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both, together with the costs
of investigation and prosecution:
(1) Conceals from any officer or employee of this state any
property belonging to the estate of a feepayer or other person liable
in respect of the fee.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any
book, document, or record, or makes any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other
person liable with respect to the fee.
(q) For purposes of this section, "person" means the feepayer, any
member of the feepayer's family, any corporation, agent, fiduciary,
or representative of, or any other individual or entity acting on
behalf of, the feepayer, or any other corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the feepayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the feepayer, directly or indirectly.
(r) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2013, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 5. Section 55332.5 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code , as amended by Section 593
of Chapter 15 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
55332.5. (a) (1) The executive director and chief counsel of the
board, or their delegates, may compromise any final fee liability
where the reduction of fees is seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the board, upon
recommendation by its executive director and chief counsel, jointly,
may compromise a final fee liability involving a reduction in fees in
excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500). Any
recommendation for approval of an offer in compromise that is not
either approved or disapproved within 45 days of the submission of
the recommendation shall be deemed approved.
(3) The board, itself, may by resolution delegate to the executive
director and the chief counsel, jointly, the authority to compromise
a final fee liability in which the reduction of fees is in excess of
seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500), but less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "a final fee liability" means
any final fee liability arising under Part 30 (commencing with
Section 55001), or related interest, additions to fees, penalties, or
other amounts assessed under this part.
(c) Offers in compromise shall be considered only for liabilities
that were generated from a business that has been discontinued or
transferred, where the feepayer making the offer no longer has a
controlling interest or association with the transferred business or
has a controlling interest or association with a similar type of
business as the transferred or discontinued business.
(d) Offers in compromise shall not be considered where the
feepayer has been convicted of felony tax evasion under this part
during the liability period.
(e) For amounts to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The feepayer shall establish that:
(A) The amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected
to be paid or collected from the feepayer's present assets or
income.
(B) The feepayer does not have reasonable prospects of acquiring
increased income or assets that would enable the feepayer to satisfy
a greater amount of the liability than the amount offered, within a
reasonable period of time.
(2) The board shall have determined that acceptance of the
compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(f) A determination by the board that it would not be in the best
interest of the state to accept an offer in compromise in
satisfaction of a final fee liability shall not be subject to
administrative appeal or judicial review.
(g) (1) Offers for liabilities with a fraud or evasion penalty
shall require a minimum offer of the unpaid fee and fraud or evasion
penalty.
(2) The minimum offer may be waived if it can be shown that the
feepayer making the offer was not the person responsible for
perpetrating the fraud or evasion. This authorization to waive only
applies to partnership accounts where the intent to commit fraud or
evasion can be clearly attributed to a partner of the feepayer.
(h) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or rejected, or
the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are fulfilled,
the board shall notify the feepayer in writing. In the event an offer
is rejected, the amount posted will either be applied to the
liability or refunded, at the discretion of the feepayer.
(i) When more than one feepayer is liable for the debt, such as
with spouses or partnerships or other business combinations,
including, but not limited to, feepayers who are liable through dual
determination or successor's liability, the acceptance of an offer in
compromise from one liable feepayer shall reduce the amount of the
liability of the other feepayers by the amount of the accepted offer.
(j) Whenever a compromise of fees or penalties or total fees and
penalties in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) is approved, there
shall be placed on file for at least one year in the office of the
executive director of the board a public record with respect to that
compromise. The public record shall include all of the following
information:
(1) The name of the feepayer.
(2) The amount of unpaid fees and related penalties, additions to
fees, interest, or other amounts involved.
(3) The amount offered.
(4) A summary of the reason why the compromise is in the best
interest of the state.
The public record shall not include any information that relates
to any trade secrets, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the feepayer or violate the confidentiality
provisions of Section 55381. No list shall be prepared and no
releases distributed by the board in connection with these
statements.
(k) Any compromise made under this section may be rescinded, all
compromised liabilities may be reestablished, without regard to any
statute of limitations that otherwise may be applicable, and no
portion of the amount offered in compromise refunded, if either of
the following occurs:
(1) The board determines that any person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board any property belonging to the estate
of any feepayer or other person liable for the fee.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified any
book, document, or record or made any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other person
liable for the fee.
(2) The feepayer fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions relative to the offer.
(l) Any person who, in connection with any offer or compromise
under this section, or offer of that compromise to enter into that
agreement, willfully does either of the following shall be guilty of
a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than fifty
thousand dollars ($50,000) or imprisoned pursuant to subdivision (h)
of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or both, together with the costs
of investigation and prosecution:
(1) Conceals from any officer or employee of this state any
property belonging to the estate of a feepayer or other person liable
in respect of the fee.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies any
book, document, or record, or makes any false statement, relating to
the estate or financial condition of the feepayer or other
person liable with respect to the fee.
(m) For purposes of this section, "person" means the feepayer, any
member of the feepayer's family, any corporation, agent, fiduciary,
or representative of, or any other individual or entity acting on
behalf of, the feepayer, or any other corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the feepayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the feepayer, directly or indirectly.
(n) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2013.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SECTION 1. Section 107 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code is amended to read:
107. "Possessory interests" means the following:
(a) Possession of, claim to, or right to the possession of land or
improvements that is independent, durable, and exclusive of rights
held by others in the property, except when coupled with ownership of
the land or improvements in the same person. For the purposes of
this subdivision:
(1) "Independent" means the ability to exercise authority and
exert control over the management or operation of the property or
improvements, separate and apart from the policies, statutes,
ordinances, rules, and regulations of the public owner of the
property or improvements. A possession or use is independent if the
possession or operation of the property is sufficiently autonomous to
constitute more than a mere agency.
(2) "Durable" means for a determinable period with a reasonable
certainty that the use, possession, or claim with respect to the
property or improvements will continue for that period.
(3) "Exclusive" means the enjoyment of a beneficial use of land or
improvements, together with the ability to exclude from occupancy by
means of legal process others who may interfere with that enjoyment.
For purposes of this paragraph, "exclusive use" includes the
following types of use in property:
(A) Sole occupancy or use of property or improvements.
(B) Use as a cotenant.
(C) Concurrent use by a person who has a primary or prevailing
right to use property or improvements at any time.
(D) Concurrent uses by persons making qualitatively different uses
of property or improvements.
(E) Concurrent use by persons engaged in similar uses that
diminish the quantity or quality of the property or improvements.
(F) Concurrent use that does not diminish the quantity or quality
of the property or improvements, if the number of those concurrent
use grants is restricted.
A use of property or improvements that does not contain one of the
elements in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive, shall be rebuttably
presumed to be a nonexclusive use.
(b) Taxable improvements on tax-exempt land.
Any possessory interest may, in the discretion of the county board
of supervisors, be considered sufficient security for the payment of
any taxes levied thereon and may be placed on the secured roll.
Leasehold estates for the production of gas, petroleum and other
hydrocarbon substances from beneath the surface of the earth, and
other rights relating to these substances which constitute
incorporeal hereditaments or profits a prendre, are sufficient
security for the payment of taxes levied thereon. These estates and
rights shall not be classified as possessory interests, but shall be
placed on the secured roll.
If the tax on any possessory interest or leasehold estate for the
production of gas, petroleum and other hydrocarbon substances is
unpaid when any installment of secured taxes become delinquent, the
tax collector may use those collection procedures which are available
for the collection of assessments on the unsecured roll.
If the tax on any possessory interest or leasehold estate for the
production of gas, petroleum and other hydrocarbon substances remains
unpaid at the time set for the declaration of default for taxes
carried on the secured roll, the possessory interest tax together
with any penalty and costs which may be accrued thereon while on the
secured roll shall be transferred to the unsecured roll.