9278
. (a) (1) The executive director and chief counsel of the
board, 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 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). A
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 3 (commencing with Section
8601), 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 from 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.
(d) 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.
(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 tax 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 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.
(g) When more than one taxpayer 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 taxpayer shall
not relieve the other taxpayers 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 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 9255. No list shall be prepared and no releases
distributed by the board in connection with these statements.
(i) A 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 a person did any of the following
acts regarding the making of the offer:
(A) Concealed from the board property belonging to the estate of a
taxpayer or other person liable for the tax.
(B) Received, withheld, destroyed, mutilated, or falsified a book,
document, or record, or made a 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.
(j) A person who, in connection with an 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 an officer or employee of this state property
belonging to the estate of a taxpayer or other person liable in
respect of the tax.
(2) Receives, withholds, destroys, mutilates, or falsifies a book,
document, or record, or makes a false statement, relating to the
estate or financial condition of the taxpayer or other person liable
in respect of the tax.
(k) For purposes of this section, "person" means the taxpayer, a
member of the taxpayer's family, a corporation, agent, fiduciary, or
representative of, or another individual or entity acting on behalf
of, the taxpayer, or another corporation or entity owned or
controlled by the taxpayer, directly or indirectly, or that owns or
controls the taxpayer, directly or indirectly.
(l) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2018.