19443
. (a) (1) The Executive Officer and Chief Counsel of the
Franchise Tax Board, jointly, or their delegates, may compromise any
final tax liability in which the reduction of tax is seven thousand
five hundred dollars ($7,500) or less.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Franchise Tax Board,
upon recommendation by its executive officer 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 by the Franchise Tax Board, itself,
within 45 days of the submission of the recommendation shall be
deemed approved.
(3) The Franchise Tax Board, itself, may by resolution delegate to
the executive officer 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 10 (commencing with
Section 17001) or Part 11 (commencing with Section 23001) or related
interest, additions to tax, penalties, or other amounts assessed
under this part.
(c) For an amount to be compromised under this section, the
following conditions shall exist:
(1) The taxpayer shall establish that the:
(A) Amount offered in payment is the most that can be expected to
be paid or collected from the taxpayer's present assets or income,
and
(B) 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 Franchise Tax Board shall have determined that acceptance
of the compromise is in the best interest of the state.
(d) A determination by the Franchise Tax 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.
(e) When an offer in compromise is either accepted or rejected, or
the terms and conditions of a compromise agreement are fulfilled,
the Franchise Tax Board shall notify the taxpayer in writing.
(f) In the case of a joint and several liability, the acceptance
of an offer in compromise from one liable spouse shall not relieve
the other spouse from paying the entire liability. However, the
amount of the liability shall be reduced by the amount of the
accepted offer.
(g) 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 Officer of the Franchise Tax 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 secret, patent, process, style of work, apparatus,
business secret, or organizational structure, that if disclosed,
would adversely affect the taxpayer or the national defense. No list
shall be prepared and no releases distributed by the Franchise Tax
Board in connection with these statements.
(h) 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 Franchise Tax Board determines that any person did any of
the following acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the Franchise Tax 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 either:
(A) Comply with any of the terms and conditions relative to the
offer.
(B) File subsequent required returns and pay subsequent final tax
liabilities within 20 days after the Franchise Tax Board issues
notice and demand to the person stating that the continued failure to
file or pay the tax may result in rescission of the compromise.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the
Franchise Tax Board determines that any portion of an application for
an offer in compromise or installment agreement submitted under this
section or Section 19008 meets the requirements of clause (i) or
(ii) of Section 6702(b)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, as
modified by Section 19179, then the Franchise Tax Board may treat
that portion as if it were never submitted and that portion shall not
be subject to any further administrative or judicial review.
(j) This section shall become operative on the effective date of
Chapter 931 of the Statutes of 1999 without regard to the taxable
year at issue.