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1410-1414 Corrections: Errors

1410. ERRORS ON THE ROLL
Pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 4831, incorrect entries on the roll may be corrected at any time after the roll is delivered to the auditor and within four years after the assessment being corrected was originally made. This section does not apply to the following:

1) Errors involving the exercise of value judgments; and

2) Escape assessments caused by the assessee's failure to report the information required by Article 2, commencing with Revenue and Taxation Code, chapter 3, part 2, section 441.

NOTE: If an error is discovered as a result of an audit of a taxpayer's books and records, that error may be corrected at any time within six months after completion of the audit.

Any increase in the amount of taxes due created by the correction cannot constitute a lien or charge on the real property if the property has been sold or encumbered for value prior to enrollment of the correction (Rev. & Tax. Code §4836.5). These taxes are transferred to the unsecured roll, and they are collected in the same manner and are subject to the same penalties as other taxes transferred under provisions of Revenue and Taxation Code section 5090 (Rev. & Tax. Code §4831(b)).

Assessments (usually of personal property) based on erroneous information supplied by the assessee may be corrected within the time limitation imposed by Revenue and Taxation Code sections 532 and 532.1 (Rev. & Tax. Code §4831.5). Most corrections must be made within four years from July 1 of the assessment year in which a problem occurs. An escape involving fraud or willful concealment may be corrected within six years after July 1 of the year in which the escape occurs. Revenue and Taxation Code section 4840 provides a method whereby the lien of taxes improperly entered on the secured roll can be canceled and then re-entered, either as cross-secured to other real property or on the unsecured roll.

1411. AUDITOR'S ERRORS
When a tax rate has been properly set by the board of supervisors, but the auditor makes an inadvertent clerical error using an incorrect rate in extending the tax for a certain tax-rate area, a correction should be made on the roll, under authority of Revenue and Taxation Code section 4832, if the tax bills have not been issued.

1412. TAX COLLECTOR'S ERRORS
Clerical errors made in preparing the abstract may be corrected by the tax collector at any time before the property has been sold to a purchaser in a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 8 sale (Rev. & Tax. Code §4834.5).

See M-1522 regarding timely payments not credited on the roll before the auditor extends the penalties and costs.

1413. ERRORS ON STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION'S ROLL
Errors on the State Board of Equalization's roll, subject to the limitations set forth in Revenue and Taxation Code section 4876, may be corrected within four years after the assessment was made or within the period for which a waiver was given, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 868 (Rev. & Tax. Code §§4876-4876.5). Upon receipt of the statement of correction from the Board of Equalization (Rev. & Tax. Code §4879), the auditor enters the correction on the roll and adjusts the account with the tax collector accordingly (Rev. & Tax. Code §4880).

1414. ERRORS NOT OTHERWISE CORRECTABLE
For errors that cannot be corrected or that are not corrected within the time limits provided by law, see M-1521.