Income taxes: failure to withhold.

Existing law requires specified persons to withhold and pay to the Franchise Tax Board specified amounts as taxes due under the Personal Income Tax Law or Corporate tax law by taxpayers, including the withholding by employers on wages paid to employees and withholding by transferees of real property on the sales price of property. Existing law also authorizes the Franchise Tax Board, by regulation, to require any person having the control, receipt, custody, disposal, or payment of items of income, as specified, to withhold an amount determined to reasonably represent the amount of tax due under the Personal Income Tax Law or Corporate Tax Law when the items of income are included with other income of the taxpayer, and to transmit the amount withheld to the Franchise Tax Board. Under existing law, unless it is shown that the failure is due to reasonable cause, any person who fails to withhold from any payments any amount required to be withheld or who fails to transmit the withheld amounts to the Franchise Tax Board on or before the due date is liable for the amount actually withheld, or the amount of taxes due from the taxpayer to whom the payments are made, whichever is greater, but not in excess of the amount required to be withheld. Existing law also requires interest to be assessed if any amount required to be withheld is not paid to the Franchise Tax Board on or before the due date, computed from the due date to the date paid. This bill would specify that interest is assessed as specified unless it shown that the failure to pay is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.