Are (Ca.) state taxes covered under statute of limitations or bankruptcy??

[Boxerfan]

Because I have not lived in Ca. since 2001 & I last worked there late 2000. I have had the state sending me a notice that I owed back taxes-which I ignored because the statute of limitations was way past & I had filed a Bankruptcy in 2007.

I just received a notice that a garnishment had been attempted. Because my income is from SSDI it was protected from garnishment.

So I got very lucky & dodged a bullet. But is this even legal?.

I plan to call Monday & need to educate myself on the law. Any help would be very appreciated!

Thanks!

[haele]

1. Uhhh - SSDI is not protected from all garnishment.

The States and any Federal organization can petition to garnish your SSID, including taxes or child support; your annual household income is then looked at, and if you are in the taxable category (as in, your spouse works, or you have an additional income up to the $600 a month limit, and they can decide to garnish your wage for a small amount. My husband, who has been collecting SSDI since 2005, was garnished in 2008 for $600 or so back taxes and penalties to Alabama from a filing mistake he made in 1998. He also had his SSDI garnished for the final $1200 back Federal student loans that he thought he had taken been approved for discharge of debt of when he became disabled. Apparently, since I was employed, his servicer claimed that even though originally they told him he was clear, due to his household income they couldn't discharge his student loan due to disability (and he had paid enough interest to cover the original loan even before we got married - because he hadn't been making enough to pay down the principle quickly) and had to turn it over to the government for collections.

They never garnished more than $50 a paycheck, and our next tax refund usually ended up paying the outstanding balance that was being garnished.

As to whether your bankruptcy cancelling the CA taxes, it depends on the type of bankruptcy you got. It should be in your bankruptcy paperwork, and if your paper indicates you are not liable for taxes and penalties accrued up to the point of the court decision, you should contact the Franchise Tax Board. You should also see if there's a community advocate in your area that handles pro-bono legal on taxes. Do not go to H&R Block or any of the tax preparation places that are starting to open up.
The State of CA may be claiming that you owe penalties even if you don't owe taxes anymore.

Haele