Is it considered estimated tax payment?

[RightOn]

New client. He did not file in 2013. California Franchise Tax Board took $2,000 from his bank account. Now he is working to put his records back to track. The 2013 tax return has been completed and shows a zero tax due. Now he is ready to file the 2013 tax return and wants the $2,000 to be refunded to him. So how is the $2,000 to be accounted for in the 2013 tax return? Is it considered and claimed as estimated tax payment?

[Snaggletooth]

How much has he paid?

You say CA has already sucked out $2000 from his bank account. Now he wants CA to take out yet another $2000? Is this correct? If so, what would be his reasoning?

Going back to your question, before you try to account for what he's paid, you need to look at the first draft from California, which most likely is going to consist of tax, penalty, and interest. If so, you can only claim the amount of tax paid in.

Depending on your software, there may be another alternative to showing the amount as an estimated payment. It really isn't. However, it is clearly a payment, and it should be shown somewhere. Remember that CA has obviously created a substitute return, and you are changing that. Having said that, it may be appropriate to file an amended return. If you choose to do an amended return, your software should have a bucket entitled "amount paid with original return" or something similar.

[taxea]

It isn't clear in your post what the 2000. was taken to pay. Did he owe for year/s prior to 2013? If he did then you need to know where they applied the payment. You can take it as State tax paid on the 2016 return.

[RightOn]

You say CA has already sucked out $2000 from his bank account. Now he wants CA to take out yet another $2000? Is this correct? If so, what would be his reasoning?

Going back to your question, before you try to account for what he's paid, you need to look at the first draft from California, which most likely is going to consist of tax, penalty, and interest. If so, you can only claim the amount of tax paid in.

Depending on your software, there may be another alternative to showing the amount as an estimated payment. It really isn't. However, it is clearly a payment, and it should be shown somewhere. Remember that CA has obviously created a substitute return, and you are changing that. Having said that, it may be appropriate to file an amended return. If you choose to do an amended return, your software should have a bucket entitled "amount paid with original return" or something similar.

Perhaps I did not say clearly enough in the OP, he does not want another $2,000 taken again. Since the 2013 shows a zero balance due, he just wants the $2,000 taken from him before to be refunded.

[RightOn]

It isn't clear in your post what the 2000. was taken to pay. Did he owe for year/s prior to 2013? If he did then you need to know where they applied the payment. You can take it as State tax paid on the 2016 return.

As far as I know, the tax returns prior to 2013 have all been taken care of and cleared already. So 2013 is the only year he is still behind. And based on what he said, the $2,000 was taken for year 2013.

You can take it as State tax paid on the 2016 return.

As for "State tax paid", do you mean it can be claimed as state tax withholding (just like the state withholding tax on a W-2) in the California tax return?