LETTER Read your Feb. 16 commentary “Time for Seizing the Moment in L.A.’s Business Tax Reform” regarding the Los Angeles business tax situation. I believe the conclusion you reached regarding the lack of receiving comments and questions you requested from readers in this matter is flawed. The debate of the business tax has been going on for years, and there have been reports upon reports submitted after earlier reports and committees have previously been charged with the same task. The business community, in my view, is just fed up and resigned to the current condition. Take the current state of affairs. A telephone call for information on recent correspondence businesses receive relating to the state/city matching takes an inordinate amount of time to resolve, and generally requires a second or third call or letter and even then is not finalized. Their Web is, in my opinion, not user friendly and requires tough negotiation to find what you are looking for. My clients have just given up and are either resigned to paying the tax or relocating out of Los Angeles. Many have been waiting for years and years for a common sense business tax, and conclude that the license revenue is a cash cow for the city and will not be changed regardless of what any commission suggests. A real corker, however, is something that I have not seen mentioned anywhere. The city has a 3-year statute for collecting back taxes in an audit or submission of an amended form. However, it has a one-year limitation for overpayments and will only issue refunds checks for a one-year statute. Fair I think not and this issue is not addressed in anything I have read. I submit that this issue alone is worth comment from the finance director. Why keep running up a hill of ice when there are so many other issues that may be changed or resolved without having to wait an eternity? Donald Lucove, CPA Calabasas