Is there any question that this BBS can't answer? I'm going to put it to the test again.

I need advice on what to do in this situation. If that advice is simply "go find a professional to help you", cool, but I'd like to make sure that I know exactly what kind of professional to look for (i.e., what page in the Seattle yellow pages do I turn to). I don't even know *that*. So I'm hoping someone can help.

The State of California tried to assess some taxes on me (to the tune of 32 grand) that I don't owe. It's taxes for property sale of a property that was handed completely over to my wife in the divorce a few years ago. She filed her taxes, and State of CA got paid the tax on the sale, so it should all be hunky dory, but it's not. They think I owe them, still.

They're also trying to tack on ordinary income taxes for a year that I didn't even live in CA and didn't have any employment or income at all (I just lived off of savings for that year). But the main thing seems to be the property sale.

I tried sending in a protest letter the first time, with a detailed explanation and documentation (including her tax returns) showing that I did not receive the income they're trying to assess, and that all necessary taxes were paid. It seems to have fallen on deaf ears, because I just got the SECOND letter, this time saying I'm delinquent and I'd better pay up.

It says I can file a protest letter, but hey, I already did that and it looks like that didn't work.

What do you guys suggest? I feel like I'm in Brazil here. I'm starting to understand Terry a lot more these days: as a way out of this, being tortured to death is looking more and more appealing...