Last month Doc and I received a
“love letter” from the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). They told us our reported taxes for
2012 were underpaid by several thousand dollars and we needed to make immediate
payment.
We checked our numbers and knew
that our calculations were correct, yet they did not match the numbers the FTB
was using. Our Tax Accountant
wrote an official letter stating that we did not agree. We sent that letter along with
appropriate documents.
Yesterday we received a secondary
“love letter” from the FTB saying we owed the initial amount plus interest,
plus penalties! Yikes. Doc was fairly aggravated. This morning Doc awoke saying the first
thing he was going to do was to phone the FTB. I was surprised at that. Usually I need to “pester” Doc numerous times for him to
take such actions. Or, often I get
impatient waiting for him to do things, so I take over. This morning Doc got on
the phone at 8 a.m. He was a man
on a mission!
Doc called the FTB six times
getting the message that they were “experiencing an unusually high volume of
calls, please call back at a later time”.
I could see Doc’s level of frustration rising with each call. Finally on the 7th call he
got through, but was told it would be approximately 14 minutes on hold until he
could speak with a Tax Agent. I
had visions of those cartoon characters where the level of red rises higher and
higher as the anger or frustration levels rise.
I had a 10 a.m. appointment, so I
wished Doc well, kissed him goodbye and left while he was hanging on hold. A few miles from the house I realized
that I was fearing the dreaded FTB Agent and encounter. So I adjusted my attitude and actions. Out loud I said, “Please provide Doc
patience and wisdom as he deals with this. If there are any Divine Beings within earshot of me right
now who were former Tax Agents or Tax Attorneys, please feel free to hop in and
help out. Please deal lovingly
with the Agent. Thanks!”
Doc phoned me as I was parking my
pickup. He said, “Done! All cleared up! 8 minutes and it is finished!” We had been somewhat expecting to “do
battle” especially when finding out that the Tax Agent had never received our letter
and supporting documents. Doc
began explaining things to her, but before he was able to say much, she was way
ahead of him and spotted the glitch!
The error was on their side and we will soon get a letter saying all is
OK.
Thank You
Tax Angel. What a valuable lesson on expectations and overcoming fears.
