Taxpayer amnesty…sounds good but then again, what is in a name? An elderly woman recently appeared before the Board of Equalization. Her crime? She received a refund erroneously. She even paid the money back. Sadly, that wasn’t good enough for the Board majority.

Our victim filed her tax return in 2002 with an anticipated refund. She received a check for roughly $4700 more than her anticipated refund and contacted the Franchise Tax Board to find out why the check was so much. No one at FTB knew. She held the check for three more weeks and deposited it. Her husband recently died so she thought it might have been a death benefit.

Roughly eight months later the tax man cometh wanting his money back. She promptly paid the money back. Was that good enough? Oh heavens no. FTB wants interest, a collection cost and recovery fee and an amnesty interest penalty.

Amnesty is designed for taxpayers who don’t file tax returns. Our little old lady filed her tax return. FTB erred and sent her the wrong amount. Now to add insult to injury the FTB wants interest and the penalty. Why would even a sophisticated taxpayer think an amnesty penalty could be applied when you in fact filed and paid your taxes?

Regrettably, the BOE couldn’t help itself and voted to apply the penalty in this new and interesting application. After all, we have a massive government to fund. Of course, the two Republicans on the Board voted against this decision.

Sadly, our taxpaying victim is but one more statistic in the war on taxpayers.