California is a peculiar forum. Instead of a Department of Revenue you have a State Franchise Tax Board, as you are already aware I am sure. The federal income tax refund works like any other state but that Franchise Tax Board is sometimes very obstinate.

There are success stories I am sure. Proof is another matter because of Rules of Evidence. With large refunds in the pocket a “suitor” or redeemed man or woman is typically reluctant to have people calling them up for verification that they actually got a refund in the amount of their withholdings. And that would be necessary for me to show you any proof, that you would be happy with.

So as an intelligence nexus between many suitors I can tell you a new technique is to present an agreement with $100 by check offering $100/month for a period until they Franchise Tax Board will offer you an assessment and specific particulars. This might work very well because California does not go by a percentage of federal income tax, like the other states.

When they fail to provide the specifics of how they found the liability, you stop paying the $100/month as per the agreement they signed by cashing the first $100 check. But that is if they give you some kind of FrivPen which might not happen at all.