California Tax Appeal Change Seen Forcing More Taxpayers to Court

Tax practitioners are pushing back against a proposal from California’s Office of Tax Appeals to limit its own ability to strike down regulations from the state’s taxing agencies.

Questions about the office’s proposal stem from conflicting legal interpretations about its authority as the independent, quasi-judicial body that decides disputes between taxpayers and the state since it was created in 2018 as the successor to the State Board of Equalization.

The office included the limitation in a broader package of proposed changes to rules that govern its appeal process.

Attorneys, accountants, and business groups say the move would force more taxpayers ...