Article 1. Generally of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 1. >> Part 9. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 1.

Incorrect entries on a roll may be corrected under this article as follows:
  (a) (1) Any error or omission not involving the exercise of assessor value judgment may be corrected within four years after the making of the assessment being corrected.
  (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the four-year limit shall not apply to escape assessments caused by the assessee's failure to report the information required by Article 2 (commencing with Section 441) of Chapter 3 of Part 2.
  (b) Any error or omission not involving the exercise of assessor value judgment that is discovered as a result of any audit may be corrected within six months after the completion of the audit.
  (c) Any error or omission involving the exercise of assessor value judgment that arises solely from a failure to reflect a decline in the taxable value of real property, floating homes subject to taxation pursuant to Section 229, and manufactured homes subject to taxation under Part 13 (commencing with Section 5800), as required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 51 shall only be corrected within one year after the making of the assessment that is being corrected.
  (d) Taxes that are not a lien or charge on the property assessed may be transferred from the secured roll to the unsecured roll of the corresponding year by the county auditor. These taxes shall be collected in the same manner as other delinquent taxes on the unsecured roll and shall be subject to delinquent penalties in the same manner as taxes transferred to the unsecured roll under Section 5090. The statute of limitations for the collection of those taxes shall commence to run from the date of transfer.

When it can be ascertained by the assessor from an audit of an assessee's books of account or other papers that there has been a defect of description or clerical error of the assessee in his property statement or in other information or records furnished to the assessor which caused the assessor to assess taxable tangible property which should not have been assessed or to assess it at a substantially higher valuation than he would have entered on the roll if the information had been correctly furnished to the assessor, the error on the roll may be corrected under this article at any time after the roll is delivered to the auditor by the clerk of the county board and within the time allowed for assessing property which has escaped assessment as provided in Sections 532 and 532. 1. The extent and character of the change to be made on the roll shall be certified to the auditor by the assessor.

Clerical errors of the auditor on the roll may be corrected under this article at any time before the report is sent to the Controller pursuant to Section 3440, or the summary statement is sent to the Controller pursuant to Section 3446, showing in detail the tax-defaulted property.

If the amount of any tax or special assessment is understated on the roll by five dollars ($5) or less due to clerical error of the auditor, the amount by which such tax or special assessment is understated may be canceled by the auditor. After cancellation by the auditor, the amount appearing on the roll shall in each instance be deemed the correct amount of that tax or special assessment for all purposes and upon payment of that amount the tax collector shall show the tax or special assessment as paid in full. The auditor need not note the cancellation on the roll. Whenever a portion of the rate of any tax or special assessment is canceled in the manner provided by this section, written consent of any city attorney shall not be required.

(a) Notwithstanding Section 2610.5, in the case of corrections made to the roll pursuant to Section 1646.1, where a taxpayer has failed to pay an amount of tax computed upon assessed value that is the subject of a pending assessment appeal, the relief from penalties shall apply only to the difference between the county board's final determination of value and the value on the assessment roll for the fiscal year covered by the application. For purposes of this section, "county board" means either a county board of supervisors that meets as a county board of equalization or an assessment appeals board.
  (b) The county board shall cause notice of the requirements of this section to be mailed to each taxpayer or to be presented to each taxpayer upon filing an application for reduction in assessment with the county board if that taxpayer will be impacted by the penalty provisions of this section.
  (c) For any taxpayer who has paid at least 80 percent of the amount of tax finally determined due by the county board within 60 days of mailing or presentation of the notice prescribed in subdivision (b), the tax collector shall accept payment of the balance of the tax due without penalties or interest.
  (d) This section shall apply only to those properties upon which an application for reduction in assessment is pending before the county board on the effective date of the act adding this section or those applications for reduction in assessment that are filed with the county board after the effective date of the act adding this section.
  (e) This section shall only become operative if the board of supervisors of a county, with the approval of the county's tax collector and the county's auditor, adopts a resolution or ordinance approving this section.

Corrections authorized under this article shall be made by the auditor.

Clerical errors on the delinquent roll may be corrected by the tax collector at any time before the county has disposed of the property. This section shall be construed as an additional procedure to that set forth in Sections 4946 to 4948, inclusive.

If the correction will decrease the amount of unpaid taxes, the consent of the board of supervisors is necessary to the correction.

(a) If the correction will result in a reduction of an assessment that would entitle the assessee to a refund, the auditor shall either process the refund or notify the assessee in writing of the requirements for obtaining a refund pursuant to Section 5097. The notice shall state that the assessee is entitled to a refund and that a claim for a refund shall be filed, pursuant to Section 5097, within 60 days of the date of the notice. Notwithstanding Section 5097, a claim for a refund shall be deemed timely filed if it is filed within 60 days of the date of the notice.
  (b) If the correction will increase the amount of unpaid taxes, the assessor shall notify the assessee of the procedure for obtaining review by the county board under Section 1605 and the procedure for applying for cancellation under Section 4986.

In the event any correction authorized under this article has the effect of increasing the assessment, the auditor shall apply a tax rate to that increase at whatever tax rate was in existence in the year in which the error was made and shall apply the assessment ratio that was in existence in the year in which the error was made. All increased amounts of taxes shall be entered on the roll prepared or being prepared for the current assessment year and shall thereafter be treated and collected like other taxes on the roll. After the lien date, and with the approval of the tax collector, the increase may be added to the current roll being collected. However, if the correction affects taxes on the secured roll for any year and subsequent to the entry of the original assessment but prior to the date of the correction the real property on which the taxes constitute a lien has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value or becomes subject to a bona fide encumbrance for value, the increased amount of taxes shall not create, impose or constitute a lien on the real property and shall be entered on the unsecured roll in the name of the assessee at the time the error was made and shall thereafter be treated and collected like other taxes on the roll. The entry on the unsecured roll shall be followed with "Correction to account or Parcel Number ____ for the 19_-_ assessment year pursuant to Section(s) ____ of the Revenue and Taxation Code." The foregoing entry may be made on a document separate from the roll if reference is made on the roll to the document wherein the entry is made.

The date and nature of the correction shall be entered on the roll on which the error was made or on the delinquent abstract prepared therefrom opposite the description of property; provided, however, that where the correction is to a prior year's roll and results in an increase in taxes, if the delinquent tax abstract prepared from such roll does not list that parcel or account, the correctional entry to the delinquent abstract may be made by insertion therein of a new sheet containing the information required to be set forth by Section 4372 and the date and nature of the correction. The written authority for the correction shall be filed and preserved by the auditor as a public record. The auditor shall make any necessary changes in accounts with the tax collector.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, taxes due, whether secured or unsecured, on escape assessments for prior fiscal years may be paid over a four-year period at the option of the assessee if: (1) the additional tax is over five hundred dollars ($500), and (2) a written request for installment payment is filed by the assessee with the tax collector prior to the time the second installment of taxes on the secured roll becomes delinquent, or by the last day of the month following the month in which the tax bill is mailed, whichever is later. The tax collector shall include with the property tax bill a notice of the payment provisions of this section. For unsecured taxes, the written request for installment payment shall be filed with the tax collector prior to the date on which those taxes become delinquent.
  (b) If payment by installments is requested, 20 percent or more of the tax shall be paid no later than the deadline for filing the written request. The current taxes and prior year taxes with penalties and costs thereon shall be paid with or prior to the initial installment payment. In each succeeding fiscal year, the assessee shall pay, before the delinquency date of the second installment of current taxes on the secured roll, all current year taxes, and a sum at least sufficient to reduce the outstanding balance of the tax by 20 percent of the original amount. In the case of unsecured taxes, the required annual installment shall be paid on or before August 31.
  (c) Interest at the rate of three-fourths of 1 percent per month, starting with the month following the date of the deadline for filing the written request, shall be applied to the outstanding balance, on the first day of the month, if the escape or underassessment was due, in whole or in part, to the error, omission, or other fault of the assessee. If the first day of any month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the next additional three-fourths of one percent of interest shall be applied to the outstanding balance on the next business day.
  (d) No additional penalties shall be charged as long as installment payments are made timely; and, in the case of secured taxes, as long as all payments are made timely, an affidavit regarding the property shall not be published pursuant to Section 3371.
  (e) If any installment is not paid timely, or if the property on the secured roll becomes tax defaulted, or if the property changes ownership, or if taxes for the property on the unsecured roll are not paid before becoming delinquent, the balance of the tax remaining to be paid shall immediately become due and payable, and no further installment payments for that escape assessment or correction shall be authorized. The tax collector shall inform the auditor of the defaulted, off-roll installment plan and of the delinquent amount remaining unpaid. With regard to property on the secured roll that has not become tax defaulted, or property on the unsecured roll that has not become delinquent, in the event the payment is missed at the time the second or subsequent installment is due and the assessee or agent of the assessee can, by substantial evidence, convince the tax collector that the payment was not made through any fault of the assessee, the tax collector may reinstate the account upon receipt of a payment in an amount reflecting the installment plus interest under subdivision (c) to the date of reinstatement, provided that the payment is physically received by the tax collector prior to the time the property becomes tax defaulted or prior to June 30 of the current fiscal year, whichever occurs earlier.
  (f) The auditor shall add the unpaid balance, plus all penalties and costs thereon, to the current roll, adjust the tax collector's charge accordingly, and the remaining balance of the tax shall become subject to all of the provisions of this division applicable to delinquent taxes.
  (g) The tax collector shall maintain records listing the current status of all the installment accounts authorized under this section. The status of each installment account shall be entered on the current roll and the tax collector may file for record with the county recorder a certificate pursuant to Section 2191.3.
  (h) When the installment account is paid in full before 5 p.m. on June 30 of the year in which the account has become defaulted and the tax collector has filed for record a certificate of lien, the tax collector shall also file for record a release of that lien. Where the account is not paid in full until after June 30 of the year in which the account became defaulted, the filings of the certificates of lien and release of lien shall be subject to recording fees charged to the taxpayer.
  (i) The tax collector may establish a fee for the actual cost of processing a request to pay escaped assessments in installments.

If the roll of any taxing agency in course of preparation is lost or destroyed because of public calamity and is reconstructed from available data, at any time before the declaration of default the assessor may correct any erroneous assessment. The assessor shall:
  (a) Send certified notices of the correction to the tax collector, the auditor, and the Controller.
  (b) Enter opposite the description of property on the roll the date and nature of the correction.

If tax-defaulted property has been erroneously redeclared tax defaulted, or if property subject to a power of sale pursuant to Section 3691 has been erroneously redeclared tax defaulted or subject to a power of sale, the erroneous declarations may be canceled on the order of the board of supervisors.

On receipt of satisfactory, verified, written evidence that taxes have been entered on the secured roll as a lien on real property on which they are not legally a lien, the assessor shall transmit the evidence and his or her cancellation to the auditor. On direction of the board of supervisors, the auditor shall cancel the entry as a lien on that real property and reenter such taxes as follows:
  (a) If the assessee has real property sufficient, in the assessor' s opinion, to secure the payment of the taxes, as a lien on real property.
  (b) Where there is not sufficient real property to secure the taxes:
  (1) If it is state-assessed property, on the secured roll.
  (2) In all other cases, on the unsecured roll.

If any error or defect has been carried into any publication, the publication may be republished as amended, or notice of the correction may be given in a supplementary publication.

(a) If the error or defect is discovered after the time required for the original publication, the publication may be republished within 60 days of the original time period required. The republication shall not adversely affect the right of a taxpayer, assessee, or other private party in a material way.
  (b) The republication shall be made for not less than one week.