California FTB wants to tax my Father who is a Florida resident

[user411]

I am a resident of California for many decades.  My Father is a resident of Florida for many decades.  I handle my Father's legal and financial affairs because he is no longer able to due to cognitive decline.   A "FILING ENFORCEMENT SECTION MS F180" notice from the California FTB was sent to my Father at my California address for the tax year of 2019. 

My Father lives at an assisted living facility in Florida since 2017.  It is best that financial documents come to me and not to my Father.  I opt for e-delivery whenever possible, but I have specified my California address for a couple of my Father's financial accounts and his Florida retirement pension to ensure I can receive tax related documents.  So I suspect that CA FTB gained access to 1099R and 1099-Div forms for my Father that had my California address on them and decided that my Father should be paying California taxes.

The California FTB is now demanding that “questionnaire FTB 4600B ENS” be filled out and that my Father’s federal tax return, all withholding statements and proof of IRS tax payment be sent to them.  If this is not done, they will assess California income taxes and penalties.

"FTB 4600B ENS" is a complicated questionnaire.  I prefer to not provide the California FTB with detailed tax return information.  I’m afraid this will make them even more interested in taxing my Father.  The real issue that needs to be documented is why my Father is not a California resident.  So I have a few questions.

I’m looking for the simplest, trouble free resolution to this issue.  Any advice on how to best fill out this questionnaire to ensure the issue is quickly resolved?

What is the best way to document that my Father domicile is Florida and not California?

Can I avoid sending detail tax and income information to California FTB?

Should I get professional representation for this issue?

[tagteam]

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@user411 wrote:

Should I get professional representation for this issue?

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I believe that would be highly recommended in this case. 

The links below are to lists of enrolled agents and attorneys. 

https://taxexperts.naea.org/listing/location/united-states/california

https://www.avvo.com/tax-lawyer.html

You could have had your father file a Declaration of Domicile in Florida, but it is likely too late for that at this point.

https://www.clerk.org/pdf/DeclarationOfDomicile.pdf

[Opus 17]

Although I can't endorse any particular lawyer's advice, this seems reasonable.

https://www.palmspringstaxandtrustlawyers.com/californias-4600-notice-request-for-tax-return-the-def...

If your father owns no property in CA, does not live in CA for any part of the year, and does not receive income from any CA source, then clearly this was triggered in error, simply because you are using your own address for your father's tax papers due to his age and health.  In that case, a simple phone call to the FTB might clear it up.

If you do need to respond in writing, I would not send anything less than a fully executed form unless you have expert advice.  And you would need to sign the form yourself and attach a copy of the power of attorney that gives you power over father's financial affairs. 

[user411]

I ended up hiring a tax attorney to register a POA and response the FTB notice.  After about 3 weeks the FTB responded by email to both registered POAs (myself and the attorney I hired) stating that the POA had been received.  After about a month the FTB sent a letter to my father's home address stating that based on the information provided, they will take no further action at this time.

I have verified that all of my Fathers accounts now have the same mailing and home addresses.  I already had e-delivery specified when available.  One of the reasons I got into this mess is that some institutions don't provide e-delivery options.  Case in point is Ally bank.  They do not allow e-delivery or web downloading of 1099 forms for "trust" accounts.  Maddening.