State of California Franchise Tax Board

No stars from me. Whether in person or by phone you will walk away from your experience dissatisfied, confused at what just happened, and annoyed. DMV is a 5 star department if I were to compare the two.

crappy attitude, useless on actually helping you get your money, also can’t do math. why bother coming here and opening an office. might as well close it down and save tax payers some money… oh wait I guess California does care about tax payers.

The customer service is terrible. They don’t even make eye contact when talking to you. When you ask them questions for clarification they just repeat the same thing they just told you. They also don’t list their opening hours, their building has only 1 out of 6 elevators that take you to their room, there is only one window open out of 4 of them that has a staff member, and the window’s bullet proof. Coincidence?

This review is for the Franchise Tax Board in general and not for a particular branch. This has to be the worst agency and staff I’ve ever dealt with, and yes SS and DMV are many steps above you! First, I received a letter stating I need to send a copy of Social Security card as they couldn’t verify it. On top of that, I have a generous 10 days or so to respond or my refund will be rejected. I’ve been filing taxes since I was 16 and my SSN has been the same one. Then later, I was told the letter was sent out to the mass by mistake. It was a «system error.» Then, I was told my refund was on its way via EFT (July 9). Now, they said the refund is on its way via mail. I still haven’t seen it and it’s August 16.
I called today and spoke with an agent who couldn’t give me an answer though she said she did her job and told me the issue is outside of job duty. So, she gave me the 1800−852−5711 to call and yes, it was a waste of my time. I went through a series of automated prompts entering all kinds of personal information and then it hung up on me due to high volume calls. Awesome service, Franchise Tax Board! My question is how could you experience high-​volume calls when you hang up on people’s calls?! Now, I have to figure out another time to call back when there’s no high-​volume calls? The times I was able to talk with an agent, the wait was as long as 45 minutes for a 2 – 5 minute conversation, not very helpful and I was given wrong information.
Unfortunately, we are and will always be your «customer» whether you provide us a service or not… we have no choice! Your service is ridiculous!

I will rate zero if I can. Two months already I filed my tax return for 2014. Two months and I haven’t received my refund. I am a very low income person and they have to refund me less than $ 400 but they don’t do it. What are they waiting for??? They won’t pay me interests.. .Horrible agency!

How can it take an agency 5 ½ months to verify a head of household claim on a child that I’ve had on my returns for the past 14 years?! I have his birth certificate that lists me as the parent and his social security #. No one else claims him! And then they charge me interest on money that I do not owe and can hold my 2013 tax return! 5 ½ months is unreasonable! It is unfair that I get bounced around to different reps who have no clue what they are saying or doing! I get transferred to wrong extensions and departments. Does it sound like I’m a day care!!! No! So why do I need the department that verifies those type of claims?! Why did it take 4 months and several phone calls to tell me there is a head of house hold questionnaire that would assist in my claim being resolved?! I work for the government as well and dont always deal with the happiest people but I always strive to provide the best customer service regardless of whom I’m helping or what they did wrong. Stop half assing it! I’m not someone who didn’t pay their fines or is committing tax fraud! A simple mistake by my tax preparer (idiot selected other instead of son as my dependent) and now you guys are are putting me through a lot of stress rather than working with me to resolve this. Stop going through the motions and try to do your jobs with a little more pride and understanding because you never know when the tables may be turned and no one will go that extra mile for you.

What can u say it’s the State of California’s Franchise Tax Board office. The staff here are about what you’d expect and they don’t make much of an effort for stellar customer service, but I suspect half the folks that are coming here aren’t in the happiest of moods either…