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1400-1409 Corrections: General Information

1400. GENERAL APPLICATION
Corrections of errors on the assessment roll, other than those involving either "value judgment" or the assessee's failure to report information on a property statement, must be made within four years after the assessment was made (Rev. & Tax. Code §4831). Similarly, errors in the assessor's judgment in establishing base-year values may be corrected only within four years of July 1 of the assessment year for which the base-year 1400.1 value was established (Rev. & Tax. Code §51.5).

1401. RESULT OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS
In the case of corrections made to the roll pursuant to Revenue & Taxation Code section 1646.1, where a taxpayer has failed to pay an amount of tax computed upon assessed value that is the subject of a pending assessment appeal, the relief from penalties shall apply only to the difference between the county board's final determination of value and the value on the assessment roll for the fiscal year covered by the application.

NOTE: "County board" means either a county board of supervisors that meets as a county board of equalization or an assessment appeals board.

The county board shall cause notice of the requirements of Revenue and Taxation Code section 4833.1 to be mailed to each taxpayer or to be presented to each taxpayer upon filing an application for reduction in assessment with the county board if that taxpayer will be impacted by the penalty provisions.

For any taxpayer who has paid at least 80 percent of the amount of tax finally determined due by the county board, within 60 days of mailing or presentation of the notice prescribed, the tax collector shall accept payment of the balance of the tax due without penalties or interest.

The procedure shall apply only to those properties for which an application for assessment reduction is pending before the county board on the effective date of the act adding this section or those applications for assessment reduction that are filed with the county board after the effective date of the act adding this section.

This procedure shall become operative only if the board of supervisors of a county, with the approval of the county's tax collector and the county's auditor, adopts a resolution or ordinance approving such procedure (Rev. & Tax. Code 4833.1).

1402. WHO MAY CORRECT ROLL
Corrections are made on the roll by the auditor (Rev. & Tax. Code §4834).

The board of supervisors, by resolution, may appoint any county officer to perform on its behalf any act required or authorized to be performed by the board, unless such act is imposed upon the board by the California State Constitution (Rev. & Tax. Code §4804).

1403. CHANGE IN AMOUNT OF TAX
If a correction increases the amount of an assessment, the tax rate applied to the increase must be the rate for the year in which the error was made. The auditor shall enter the increased taxes on the roll prepared or being prepared for the current assessment year (Rev. & Tax. Code §4836.5).

1404. TRANSFER OF PAYMENT BEFORE CHANGE OF TITLE
After the tax collector has ascertained that a policy of title insurance has not been issued, the tax collector shall cancel the payment, whether mistakenly paid on or credited to unintended property, and transfer the payment to the intended property. For this to occur, the assessee or his/her agent must convince the tax collector, by substantial evidence, that the payment was intended for another property. Such action must be taken before a policy of title insurance is issued on the unintended property and before two years have elapsed since the date of the payment (Rev. & Tax. Code §4911). If any person mistakenly paid an amount of tax and there is no property of that person in the county, the tax collector shall, by being convinced upon substantial evidence that the payment was a mistake, cancel the payment and return the amount paid.

COMMENT: If the intended property is tax-defaulted and transfer of the payment on the unintended property has been made pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code sections 4911 and 4911.1, the tax default on the intended property must then be canceled, in accordance with Revenue and Taxation Code section 4991. See M-5510 et seq.

1405. TRANSFER OF PAYMENT AFTER CHANGE OF TITLE
If, through no fault of the assessee or his/her agent, the payment of taxes has been mistakenly applied by the tax collector to other than the property intended, and if the assessee or his/her agent, by substantial evidence, convinces the tax collector that the payment should have been credited to another property, the tax collector shall transfer the payment, in full, to the intended property and cancel the credit on the unintended property (Rev. & Tax. Code §4911.1).

When the transfer is made, the person who owned the property immediately before issuance of a policy of title insurance becomes personally liable for the transferred amount, which amount shall be transferred to the unsecured roll and collected as unsecured taxes (Rev. & Tax. Code §4911.1).

If cancellation and transfer of the payment was made after the declaration of default, transfer the amount of the tax due on the unintended property, with penalties and costs added, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 2922, to the unsecured roll (Rev. & Tax. Code §4913).

If any person mistakenly paid an amount of tax and there is no property of that person in the county, the tax collector shall, by being convinced upon substantial evidence that the payment was a mistake, cancel the payment and return the amount paid.

1406. FILING OF CANCELLATION VOUCHER
A verified cancellation voucher containing all details shall be signed and submitted by the property owner to the tax collector. Reference to the document must be entered on the roll opposite the unintended property and preserved in a permanent file (Rev. & Tax. Code §4912).

Form SCO 1-03 is recommended for use as the cancellation voucher.

NOTE: If a declaration of tax default requires cancellation, see "comment" under M-1404.

1407. NOTICE AND HEARING
The assessee of the unintended property must be notified, by registered or certified mail, of the cancellation of the credit on the unintended property and of the proposed transfer. Such person then becomes liable for the amount so transferred to the unsecured roll (Rev. & Tax. Code §4913).

The owner of the unintended property may, following receipt of the notice, demand a hearing before the board of supervisors. A copy of the written demand must be filed with the tax collector (Rev. & Tax. Code §4914).

1408. PAYMENT OF BALANCE DUE
If the payment to be transferred to the intended property is less than the amount due, the balance of the amount due must be paid prior to the transfer (Rev. & Tax. Code §4915).

1409. REFUND OF EXCESS
If the amount transferred exceeds the amount due, the excess is subject to refund (Rev. & Tax. Code §4916). If the refund is completed within 90 days after the date of payment, it may be made by the tax collector (Rev. & Tax. Code §4916). Otherwise, the refund shall be processed pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 5097.2.