The Evaporation of Money, Part II

[figmo]

I just got off the phone with the bank. They say it's the CA Franchise Tax Board (FTB), aka "the state income tax people," putting a levy on my account.

My income taxes for 2000-2002 are still being worked on. I did a lot of day trading in those years, and E*Trade lost some of the transactions.

The FTB thinks I owe over $650k. My accountant says it's closer to $60k, which, while still alot, wouldn't kill me.

My next call out is going to be to my accountant. I called him last night and got his voice mail. OTOH, I've got to be at the station in just over an hour (I'm filling in this afternoon).

The bank says nothing can happen before Tuesday because Monday's a state holiday. The lady at the bank says there's only one good thing: They can't use this order to suck any more funds, so any further deposits will stay there -- at least till they put together Yet Another Levy.The FTB guy on my case starts work at 7am; the bank's Levy Dept. doesn't start work till 9am. You can guess what my Tuesday is going to be like.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck with only the money in my wallet and in my piggy bank till at least then.

Comments

[patoadam]

IIRC, the information E*Trade sends to the IRS tells them the total amount you received from all your stock sales, but doesn't say how much you paid for your stock purchases. So how can the IRS or the FTB have any idea what you owe?

You may be better off filing incorrect returns now and amending them later when you have more complete information, depending on what the incorrect returns say, of course.

Please see my comments on your previous post if you haven't already.

[patoadam]

By "incorrect" I mean "based on the best information you currently have". I am not advocating intentional falsification of tax returns.

Have you tried explaining to the FTB that you really don't owe what they think?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Both I and my accountant have done so, which is what makes this so odd.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

You've nailed the problem on the head. The tax collectors only have records of sales and not of purchases.

I have soooo many of them that yes, E*Trade lost a few in the process, and when they went to online delivery, more got lost. A few also got lost in my paper records, but nowhere near as many.

I have a call placed out to my accountant as I type this. I don't know when I'll talk to him, as I'm at the radio station and it is a Saturday and a three-day weekend (he might be on vacation).