City of Oakland Business Tax Department

This department recently fined me for over a thousand dollars in back taxes and fines for this tax law that I didn’t even know existed. The first bill I received from the city concerning this tax arrived a year *after* the tax was actually due. When I called, the attendant explained, «sometimes we’ll send you a notice, sometimes we won’t.» How are people supposed to know what they owe without receiving a bill? And yet the fines for late payment are quite severe.

This place is just horrible. I mean is anyone even working here? Calling this place for assistance is like impossible. I’m not even sure why they have a telephone number listed. How can my estimated wait time be 22 mins, but I’ve been waiting for 46mins? This place needs to retrain their staff or get rid of everyone and start over.