Section 5906 Of Part 14. Property Taxpayers' Bill Of Rights From California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 1. >> Part 14.
5906
. (a) The advocate shall undertake, to the extent not
duplicative of existing programs, periodic review of property tax
statements and other property tax forms prescribed by the board to
determine both of the following:
(1) Whether the forms and their instructions promote or discourage
taxpayer compliance.
(2) Whether the forms or questions therein are necessary and
germane to the assessment function.
(b) The advocate shall undertake the review of taxpayer complaints
and identify areas of recurrent conflict between taxpayers and
assessment officers. This review shall include, but not be limited
to, all of the following:
(1) The adequacy and timeliness of board and assessor responses to
taxpayers' written complaints and requests for information.
(2) The adequacy and timeliness of corrections of the assessment
roll, cancellations of taxes, or issuances of refunds after taxpayers
have provided legitimate and adequate information demonstrating the
propriety of the corrections, cancellations, or refunds, including,
but not limited to, the filing of documents required by law to claim
these corrections, cancellations, or refunds.
(3) The timeliness, fairness, and accessibility of hearings and
decisions by the board, county boards of equalization, or assessment
appeals boards where taxpayers have filed timely applications for
assessment appeal.
(4) The application of penalties and interest to property tax
assessments or property tax bills where the penalty or interest is a
direct result of the assessor's failure to request specified
information or a particular method of reporting information, or where
the penalty or interest is a direct result of the taxpayer's good
faith reliance on written advice provided by the assessor or the
board.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to modify any other
provision of law or the California Code of Regulations regarding
requirements or limitations with respect to the correction of the
assessment roll, the cancellation of taxes, the issuance of refunds,
or the imposition of penalties or interest.
(d) The board shall annually conduct a public hearing, soliciting
the input of assessors, other local agency representatives, and
taxpayers, to address the advocate's annual report pursuant to
Section 5904, and to identify means to correct any problems
identified in that report.