Sandy Weiner

California Editor

Below is a sample client letter that we know you would really like to send to your clients this tax season:

Dear _________:

We’re happy to tell you that we were FINALLY able to file your 2021 tax returns and “resolve” your issue with the IRS notice you forwarded on to us. Unfortunately, due to late breaking legislation, new IRS and FTB filing requirements, and tax agency staffing shortages, processing your return and resolving your IRS notice issue took significantly longer than anticipated. Below is a breakdown of the increased hours we spent ensuring you paid the correct amount of tax this year:

• The 10 phone calls to the IRS regarding erroneous notices (because they still haven’t actually looked at the return you filed two years ago):
• Six phone calls (three plus hours each) where we never got through;
• Two phone calls (four hours each) where we got through but then got disconnected; 
• One phone call (hung up after four hours) where they said they had to speak with a supervisor and never came back; and
• Final “successful” phone call (one hour) where they told us there was nothing you need to do because last year’s return is still sitting in a mail truck in the now-closed Fresno processing center parking lot.
• The eight hours spent trying to file the return that the software company kept rejecting;
• The 12 hours we spent researching the new K-2/K-3 filing requirements, only to find out a week later when the IRS issued additional guidance that there is no need to file this return for you this year;
• The 15 hours spent trying to get the passthrough entity tax calculation to work, then realizing that it will be weeks from now before the FTB updates the forms to reflect the recent law changes that dramatically altered how the new tax and credit work; and
• The six hours spent on the phone with the software company trying to understand why the forms needed to file the California individual tax return still are not available.

That totals 72 hours to complete your return. We have enclosed a return envelope for you to send us your payment:

Sincerely,

Your Tax Professional

Kathryn Zdan, EA

Editorial Director

The iconic bronze bear statue that guards the Governor’s Office has moved to its new temporary home as the Capitol Annex undergoes a renovation project that will take at least four years to complete.¹

In 2009, then-Governor Schwarzenegger was at a fundraiser in Aspen and the bear statue caught his eye in a gallery window, so he dropped $20,000 of his personal money to acquire the 800-pound symbol of California.² The statue has resided at the Capitol ever since, through the two subsequent administrations.

Get my good side

California has used some version of the Bear Flag since 1846,³ when it was drawn using blackberry juice. That flag was a nod to California’s Lone Star Flag, adding the bear to represent strength and unyielding resistance.

But a review of the iterations of the Bear Flag show that the placement of the bear has not changed over the last 174 years: the bear faces left. So when Governor Newsom was beginning his run for Sacramento in 2018, his campaign logo raised some eyebrows with a right-facing bear, which was immediately flipped, but not before evidence could be collected. The internet does not forget.