Ask The California Employment Tax And Payroll Tax Attorney – City Of Los Angeles Offers A One-time Penalty Amnesty Program

By Robert S. Schriebman

2020

Introduction

Any tax amnesty program is truly a rare event. In my career I have seen several IRS amnesty programs mostly centering around offshore bank accounts and worker classification issues. A few years ago, the FTB had a 6-month amnesty program, but once expired it was never reinstated. I have also found that taking advantage of an amnesty program does not subject you to governmental scrutiny in the future. In other words, by taking advantage of an amnesty program you are not in line for a future tax audit.

In October 2020, the City of Los Angeles announced an amnesty program for 7 categories of business-related taxes. The amnesty program runs from October 1, 2020 to December 17, 2020. The program comes at a good time when many small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic. This program is limited to the forgiveness of penalties that can accrue on unpaid tax liabilities. Sometimes there is more than one penalty assessed against failure to pay timely. The taxes covered by the program include the following:

• Transient occupancy tax;
• Communications users tax;
• Business tax;
• Electricity users tax;
• Gas users tax;
• Parking occupancy tax; and
• Commercial tenant’s tax.

In order for the amnesty to apply, you must pay all outstanding taxes, interest, and fees; you do not have to pay assessed penalties. Your payment must be postmarked on or before December 17, 2020. If you are one of those people who wait until the last minute, make sure you send the payment by certified mail and get the receipt round-stamped. You can also use FedEx, UPS etc.

Here is where to send your payment:

City of Los Angeles – Amnesty
Office of Finance
PO Box 30716
Los Angeles, CA 90030-0716

Conclusion

Amnesty programs offered by taxing agencies, especially local agencies as opposed to the IRS, are very rare. They never last very long. If you owe the City of Los Angeles back taxes, you should take advantage of this truly limited offer. You can save around 40% of your tax bill by acting before December 17, 2020. When you make your amnesty payment, you want to be sure that you can prove that you sent in your payment timely during the amnesty period.

***

 Robert Schriebman has a successful practice in the Rolling Hills Estates area of Los Angeles County serving clients throughout California and the United States. He has successfully dedicated more than 40 years to helping individual taxpayers, business owners, CPAs, Enrolled Agents, and tax attorneys navigate the complicated tax systems of the federal and state governments. Mr. Schriebman is in private practice. He is not affiliated in any way with the EDD and he is not employed by the EDD or any other agency of the State of California.

Robert Schriebman has written the only 2 books ever published dealing with how California Employment Development Department (EDD) operates. See “California Tax Collection Practice and Procedures” and “California Taxation Practice and Procedure,” both published by Commerce Clearing House.

Robert Schriebman has written over 20 books including the major manual used nationally by practitioners and the IRS, “IRS Tax Collection Procedures – A Manual for Practitioners” published by Commerce Clearing House.

Robert Schriebman has written over 20 books including the major manual used nationally by practitioners and the IRS, “IRS Tax Collection Procedures – A Manual for Practitioners” published by Commerce Clearing House in addition to the only 2 books ever published dealing with how California Employment Development Department (EDD) operates. See “California Tax Collection Practice and Procedures” and “California Taxation Practice and Procedure,” both published by Commerce Clearing House.

Web Site Article 504