Sacramento, CA…Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) today announced the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) has voted unanimously to support his Senate Bill 11, a measure that would immediately and proactively waive penalties and interest for taxpayers when a BOE system failure prevents them from making tax payments on time.

Under existing law, tax payments made after the filing deadline are subject to interest and penalty. The BOE is currently authorized to waive any penalties or interest if the late payment is due to a disaster or BOE error, however, it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to file paperwork and petition for a refund.

“I’m pleased to have the BOE’s support on this important taxpayer protection bill, which would grant the agency the authority to relieve California taxpayers and businesses from having to jump through hoops to settle up with the government for money they never should have owed,” said Senator Gaines. “This bill is simple and fair, two elements of good governance that are too often missing in California.”

Senate Bill 11 comes on the heels of four separate BOE computer system failures over the past year, two of which occurred during peak filing deadlines leaving taxpayers unable to pay their tax bills on time.

“California taxpayers shouldn’t be burdened with penalties and interest because of a state website outage,” said Board of Equalization Member George Runner. “Most California business owners pay their taxes online and this bill is a commonsense way to provide them with some reassurance they’ll be treated fairly when the state is at fault.”

Senator Ted Gaines represents the 1st Senate District, which includes all or parts of Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou counties.