CA Franchise Tax Board

I'm ready to pull my hair out. I got a notice in the mail Monday from the CA FTB saying I owe $48.80 in penalties. It is for the tax year ending 12/31/07. I formed my LLC on August 13, 2007. CA charges a minimum annual tax of $800, even if you don't make any money in that tax year (I did make a little). Normally the tax is due by April 15th, same as income taxes, but when you form a new LLC, the tax is due the 15th day of the 4th month following the formation of the entity. Four months from August 13th is December, so I paid $800 by December 15th.

Now, 6 months later, I get a notice that shows my payment of $800 and shows that I owe a Monthly Penalty of $4, and Underpayment Penalty of $40, and Interest Due on that of $4.80. It doesn't say when my taxes were due or when I paid them.

I am assuming that either this is a mistake, or my taxes were due on November 15th, not December 15th. When I formed my LLC, I never received a tax notice with a specific due date, I just knew I had to pay by the 15th of the 4th month following formation of the LLC.

So I'm trying to call the FTB to find out why I got this bill. The first time I call, I don't even get the automated system, just a message that all circuits are busy. Today I called again and got through to the automated system, went through the menu options and then was told the estimated wait time was 28 minutes. Sigh. So I've got it on speaker phone and I'm resigned to wait it out. But then a recorded voice tells me that they are experiencing a high volume of calls and to please call back later. They apologize for the inconvenience, blah, blah, blah. Click.

So I don't even have the option to wait half an hour. Maybe that is how they cut down on complaints about the long wait on hold - they just don't let you do it. I might be less frustrated, but after waiting 6 months to tell me I underpaid, I only have 10 days from the time I got the bill to when it has to be paid. And if I don't pay it on time, they are threatening to assess a $187 collection fee - on top of additional penalties and interest that will accrue.

Which makes me wonder if they just send out these bills in the $50 range hoping people will just pay them rather than try to get through to their obviously understaffed phone lines.

P.S. I just heard back from my accountant (who I e-mailed when I couldn't get through to the FTB) and he said I should have counted August as the first month. So I did pay a month late. Maybe that is what the Monthly Penalty was for - I was one month late with payment.