How Do I Speak to an Agent at the California Franchise Tax Board About a Problem on My Account?
You can contact the California Franchise Tax Board easily with these helpful tips.
Contacting the California Franchise Tax Board can be matter of serious importance especially if you owe the state a considerable amount of taxes. If you fail to pay state taxes, the Franchise Tax Board can issue an order to withhold.
The order to withhold is a levy imposed when you do not pay taxes. The state can take funds from your bank account, commandeer your paychecks and assume ownership of real estate or any other assets you may own.
If you receive notice of a levy from the California Franchise Tax Board, you should contact them immediately if you want to keep possession of your assets.
As soon as you receive a levy notice, you should make arrangements to repay your debt. The best arrangement to repay your debt is to make a plan where you can repay the debt in monthly installments.
If you cannot repay the debt you can take measures like making an offer in compromise whereby you ask the state to pay a fraction of the amount you owe. You can also establish hardship status where you can postpone collection of the debt for up to one year. The last option available is to file for bankruptcy where you can avoid further collections of the amount you owe.
You can contact the California Franchise Tax Board through the following methods:
Live Chat
You can utilize the live chat facility on the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) website to contact one of their agents. The chat feature is secure and fast. The average hold time for an agent to chat with you is 5 minutes. You can ask general or specific questions about your income tax account in the chat. You can also make arrangements to repay the debt if you are able through the chat. The live chat facility is only available if you log in to a FTB account. The link to the live chat facility can be retrieve from GetHuman.
Phone
You can also call one of the FTB phone lines if you want to contact them. The lines are open 24/7 so you can acquire assistance at any time. One number is the automated service which has several options including checking your tax information, the amount of debt you owe and getting information about your recent payments. You can also call the customer service number to talk to a live agent. The customer service line is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both numbers can be obtained from GetHuman.
Although incredibly slow, you can send a letter to the California FTB's physical address and receive help about a problem with your account. You should send the letter to Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942840, Sacramento, CA 94240-0040. You should include all the necessary information in the letter including your Social Security Number, your phone number and the notice to which you are responding. This should not be used for urgent account problems as it can take up to six weeks to get a response to a query presented through snail mail.
Help Desk
The FTB also has a help desk where you can get help with a problem if it is not urgent. The average time it will take to solve an account problem sent through the help desk is 60 hours. The link to the help desk can be gotten from GetHuman.
In Person
The last option you should take if you want to speak to an agent at the California Franchise Tax Board about a problem with your account is to visit their offices in person. The queues are unbelievably long and you will have to deal with a lot of red tape. However, if all else fails, try this option.
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