Home Publications Guides, Manuals, and Reference Materials County Tax Collectors' Reference Manual (2012) Chapter 2000 Unsecured Tax Collections 2160-2161 Billing and Payment Processing: Cancellations

2160-2161 Billing and Payment Processing: Cancellations

2160. ERRONEOUS OR ILLEGAL ASSESSMENTS
All or any portion of any tax, penalty, or cost may be canceled by the auditor if it was levied or charged:

1) More than once;

2) Erroneously or illegally;

3) On the canceled portion of an assessment that has been decreased pursuant to a correction authorized by Article 1 (commencing with Rev. & Tax. Code §4876) of Chapter 2 of Part 9;

4) On property that did not exist on the lien date;

5) On property annexed after the lien date by the public entity owning it;

6) On property acquired by the United States, the state, or any county, city, school district, or other public entity to the extent provided for in Article 5 (commencing with Rev. & Tax. Code §5081); or

7) On that portion of an assessment in excess of the value of the property as determined by the assessor, pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 469 (Rev. & Tax. Code §4986).

NOTE: When the board of supervisors has so prescribed, any uncollected tax, penalty, or cost subject to transfer from the secured roll or abstract pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 5090 and amounting to less than $20 is canceled rather than transferred to the unsecured roll (Rev. & Tax. Code §5089).

2161. UNENFORCEABLE TAX LIEN
Whenever it is discovered that collection of a tax cannot be enforced because of an error in description, assessment, equalization, levy, or any other proceeding, the board of supervisors must be notified and a cancellation of the tax requested (Rev. & Tax. Code §§3438, 4946).

If the board of supervisors determines that the tax should be enforced, it orders the assessor to place the uncollected taxes on the next roll. The procedure for rescinding the cancellation is found in Revenue and Taxation Code sections 4946-4948.