| Did you file a CA tax return? If not, it sounds like they "estimated" one for you based on your past earnings and when you didn't pay it, they seized the funds. You should be able to sort this out by filing nonresident returns for the years you were absent. If the state wants to contest the return, then you see them in court. Otherwise they have to refund you. On the advice of my tax advisors, I've made a point of filing nonresident returns for multiple years after moving out of a state (and out of the USA), even if the earned amount is $0 and the owed amount is $0. This starts the statute of limitations (where applicable) and it puts you into the bucket of "people who have filed tax returns, which we may or may not audit" versus "people who have not filed tax returns, who we may or may not think should have filed a return". At the point where you stop filing nonresident returns, you ought to make sure you have essentially zero ties to the state. The nonresident returns you filed should have had a mailing address in a different state. Your drivers license should be from a different state (or expired). You should not be registered to vote in the state. You should not have any bank, brokerage, or other financial accounts with an address in the state. If you own a business, it should not be registered as doing business in the state. No one should be 1099'ing you at an address in that state. Anything that the state's tax board can access in their databases should point to you living elsewhere. [Obligatory disclaimer that I am not a tax attorney and this is not legal advice. Consult your accountant or a competent attorney as your case may dictate.] |
All of this rigamarole is probably necessary because there have been people in the past that were (tax) residents but tried to argue they were not to get out of paying what they owed. So now all the honest people have to jump through extra hoops because some yahoos in the past tried to 'work' the system.