Article 4. Estimated And Escaped Assessments of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 2. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 4.

If any person neglects or refuses to make a report as required by Article 2 of this chapter, the board shall make an estimate of the matters required to enable the board to make the assessment. The estimate shall be made for the year in respect to which the person failed to make the report and shall be based upon any information available to the board.

After making its estimate the board shall give to the person written notice of the estimate and its assessment. The notice shall be served personally or by mail; if by mail, service shall be made pursuant to Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure and shall be addressed to the person at his address as it appears in the records of the board.

If the board is dissatisfied with the report filed by any person, it may compute and determine the assessment upon the basis of any information available to it.

If any property required to be assessed for any year wholly escapes assessment or escapes assessment in part due to the board's underassessing the property because of failure of the taxpayer to report the property accurately, the board shall immediately assess or reassess the property upon the discovery of the escape.

If the board makes an assessment pursuant to Section 11311, 11314, or 11315 due to the negligence of the taxpayer, a penalty of 10 percent of the value of the estimated or escape assessment shall be added to the assessment. If the estimated or escape assessment is due to a fraudulent or willful attempt to evade the tax, a penalty of 25 percent of the value of the estimated or escape assessment shall be added to the assessment. A willful failure to file a report as required by Article 2 (commencing with Section 11271) of this chapter shall be deemed to be a willful attempt to evade the tax. If the assessee establishes to the satisfaction of the board that the failure to file an accurate property statement was due to reasonable cause and occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary care and the absence of willful neglect, the board shall order the penalty abated, provided the assessee has filed with the board written application for abatement of the penalty within the time prescribed by law for filing a petition for reassessment.

(a) An escape assessment shall be entered on the current private railroad car tax record, and if this is not the record for the year in which the property escaped assessment, the entry shall be followed with "escape assessment for year 20__." The property shall be assessed at the same value and taxed at the same rate as it would have been assessed and taxed had it not escaped.
  (b) If the assessments are made as a result of an audit that discloses that property assessed to the party audited has been incorrectly assessed for a past tax year for which taxes have been paid and a claim for refund is not barred by Section 11553, the tax refunds, including applicable interest under Section 11555, resulting from the incorrect assessments shall be an offset against proposed tax liabilities, including accumulated penalties and interest, resulting from escaped assessments for any tax year covered by the audit. If the refunds exceed any proposed tax liabilities, including penalties and interest, the excess shall be processed in accordance with Section 11551.
  (c) Beginning with the 1981-82 fiscal year, assessments for the current year and escape assessments for prior years shall be entered using a 100-percent assessment ratio and the tax rates for years prior to the 1981-82 fiscal year shall be divided by four.

Except in the case of a taxpayer fraudulently or willfully attempting to evade the tax, any escape assessment shall be made and the taxpayer notified thereof within four years after August 1 of the year in which the property escaped assessment. No escape assessment shall be effective until the assessee has been notified personally or by United States mail at his address as contained in the official records of the board. Receipt by the assessee of a tax bill based on such assessment shall suffice as such notice.

If any assessment made pursuant to this article results in a tax that is paid after December 10 of the year to which the assessment relates, the tax shall bear interest at the adjusted annual rate established pursuant to Section 19521 from December 10 of the year in which the assessment should have been made to the date the assessment is added to the board roll; provided, however, that no addition shall be made whenever the escape was due to an error, other than an erroneous opinion of value, on the part of the board.