Lane von Herzen: Letter from the California Franchise Tax Board

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Letter from the California Franchise Tax Board

OIG Hotline, the letter from the California Franchise Tax Board describes the diversion of a tax refund payment to the DMV for a car that is no longer registered, nor operational. While we have received no notices of funds due to the DMV, the California Franchise Tax Board states that this cash reflects an outstanding debt. Given the number of threats I have received pertaining to tax issues, it seems this is a fairly mild form of harassment. My husband will investigate this matter further.

However, I would like to point out that some people might be counting on a refund of $561.32 from the Franchise Tax Board -- a sum with which to buy groceries, medical care, or clothes for a child.

Not all Americans would find these intercepted funds to be a minor annoyance. Some would find these actions to materially deprive them of daily necessities.

When we contemplate the lives of law-abiding "targets of interest," it seems to me we must exercise a compassion that recognizes the thousand small ways in which American citizens can be deprived of their sense of agency, independence, and freedom.

Underpinning all of our human interactions is a hope for reason, fairness, and, it must be said, benevolence. Democracy only functions if we care about one another's well-being, progress, civil liberties, and human rights.

Autocracy dispenses with those concerns.

Should far right factions of the FBI be directing the appropriation of tax refunds of whistleblowers?

No, they should not.

My concerns remain with the quieter lives of those law-abiding "targets of interest" who are suffering without our notice.

If my family's ordeal can assist those good Americans, that contribution will lend this journey resonant and lasting meaning.

Most sincerely,