The Board of Equalization will hold a number of seminars to help small business owners. The first is the free Connecting Women to Power Business conference June 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at California State University, Dominguez Hills in the Loker Student Auditorium, 1000 E.Victoria St., Carson. Last year more than 3,500 people (including men) attend the event. The goals this year are to:
• Connect entrepreneurs to decision makers and empower them with strategies, techniques, and opportunities for new alliances and future success.
• Help California taxpayers start, grow, and maintain businesses in the state or expand their operations globally; and comply with the tax laws, policies, and rules.
• Teach leadership, problem solving, conflict resolution, and life management strategies and techniques.
• Introduce participants to key decision makers at the Board of Equalization, Franchise Tax Board, Internal Revenue Service, and Employment Development Department to help foster goodwill and collaborative compliance.
Among the topics that will be discussed are successful leadership and management skills development, the impact of social media, effective marketing, strategies, trends and branding to skyrocket your business, capitalizing on tax credits, business plan development, forms of ownership and legal issues for small business, global expansion and e-commerce, wealth management, estate planning, and financial literacy.
On June 23, the BOE will host a Business and Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights hearing beginning approximately 1:30 p.m. at the State Board of Equalization, 5901 Green Valley Circle, 2nd floor, Culver City.
As required by the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, the elected members of the Board of Equalization hold annual public hearings for business and property taxes to listen to your suggestions, comments, and concerns.
To register, go to the website http:// www.boe.ca.gov/cgibin/seminar.cgi?FLAG=349.
This hearing gives taxpayers the opportunity to present ideas, concerns, and recommendations regarding legislation, the quality of agency services, and other issues related to the board’s administration of its tax programs. At the business taxes hearings, you can comment on the administration of sales and use taxes, environmental fees, fuel taxes, and excise taxes. At the property tax hearings, participants can also comment on the property tax programs and laws administered by the board, and identify ways to resolve any problems identified in the Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate’s current annual report.
In order to accommodate as many speakers as possible, a limited amount of time is available for each presentation. Therefore, if your issue is complex, you may wish to prepare a description of the issue in writing, submit it before the hearing, and be prepared to summarize your issue during your presentation. When circumstances warrant, the board’s chair may modify the order of the items on the meeting agenda, which could result in a later start time for these hearings. However, please plan to arrive prior to the posted start time of the hearings if you intend to make a presentation, to ensure that you have an opportunity to be heard.
If you wish to submit a description of your issue or other documents to the board prior to the hearing, if you would like to be scheduled as a speaker, or if you have questions about the hearings, contact the Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate Office, (888) 324-2798.
To learn more about the rights provided by the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, see publication 70, “Understanding Your Rights as a California Taxpayer.”
