Filed 3/7/13 D.R. Systems v. Cal. State Bd. of Equalization CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA

D.R. SYSTEMS, INC., Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA; STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, Defendant and Respondent. D060856

(Super. Ct. No. 37-2009-00094087- CU-MC-CTL)

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego, Lisa Foster, Judge. Reversed.

Plaintiff and appellant D.R. Systems, Inc. appeals from a su mmary judgment in favor of defendant an d respondent State Board of Equa lization (Board) on plaintiff's second amended complaint for a refund of sa les and use tax. On the parties' crossmotions, the trial court granted summary judgm ent in Board's favor, ruling plaintiff had not made a timely or valid administrative claim for refund. On appeal, plaintiff contends2 that a January 7, 2005 letter, alone or in conjunction with other communications to Board, constituted a timely clai m for refund during the releva nt time period as defined by
Revenue and Taxation Code 1 section 6904 and Board is equitably estopped from claiming that section 6904 was not satisfied. Alternatively, plaintiff contends the sufficiency of its January 7, 2005 letter and other communications, as well as application of equitable estoppel, are triable issues of ma terial fact precluding summary judgment. On this record, Board is not entitled to summary judgment because there are triable issues of material fact as to whet her Board should be equitably estopped from raising plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative re quirements as a defense. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDUR AL BACKGROUND We set out the undisputed fact from the parties' separate st atements and other unchallenged evidence presented in Board's motion for summary judg ment and plaintiff's cross motion for summa ry judgment/summary adjudication. ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co . (2001) 25 Cal. 4th 826, 843; Ragland v. U.S. Bank Nat. Assn. (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 182, 197.) We state other facts and draw reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to plaintiff. ( Conroy v. Regents of University of Cal. (2009) 45 Cal.4th 1244, 1249-1250; Ragland , at p. 197.)

1 Statutory references are to the Reve nue and Taxation Code unless otherwise indicated.3 Plaintiff is a San Diego company that sells computers, software and services relating to the computer storage of X-rays and other medical digital images. In November 2002 and March 2003, Board notifie d plaintiff that it had overpaid its sales and use taxes for the second an d third quarters of 2002 (the period of April 1, 2002, to September 30, 2002) by, respectively, $17,38 2 and $172,878. Board advised plaintiff it could take credit for the overpayments agains t future tax liability, and set out two ways for it to do so. In August 2003, Board ad justed the overpayments fro m 2002 against tax liability in November 2002 and January 2003, applying credits on plaintiff's fourth quarter 2002 and first quarter 2003 returns (respectivel y approximately $68,000 and $46,000). In the third quarter of 2004, plaintiff filed a return taking a $59,232.46 additional credit for overpayments made in the second and third quarters of 2002. 2 In November 2004, Board issued a statemen t to plaintiff indicating a pa st due amount and assessing penalties and interest base d on plaintiff's third qu arter 2004 return. In December 2004, Zuckerman sent Boar d a memorandum with the subject line, "Self Audit of Prior Year Revenues." (Some capitalization omitted.) The memo states in part, "During the first part of July 2004, we showed a balance due to us from the state for sales tax." Zuckerman wrote that the comp any had reconciled its revenue and sales tax

2 Plaintiff's third quarter 2004 return does not reflect the $59,232 figure. According to plaintiff's chief financial officer Charles Zu ckerman, plaintiff file d this return with a "blank space on line 22 . . . wh ere a prepayment amount wo uld usually be placed." Arguments of counsel below confirmed plain tiff took its credit of $59,232.46 by omitting a prepayment in the third quarter of 2004.4 and had backup to show the pro cess they went through to "cle an up the books." He asked that the penalties and interest be waived be cause the company was "working in good faith to clean up the prior years and current year accounting." After sending this memo, Zuckerman spoke with a Board employee, Linda Osgood, who instructed him that the next step was for him to write a letter to Board under penalty of perjury explaining that there was a balance owed to D.R. Systems. Zuckerman resent the memo a few days later, handwriti ng the words, "These statements are made under penalty of perjury[.]" At about that time, Zuckerman told Os good that D.R. Systems had gone through its books from 2002 to the pres ent and noticed errors committed by its prior controller; it had converted its accounting system from a ta x basis to generally accepted accounting principles, which had resulted in a change in the allocation of taxable income by each quarter and thus all of its prior returns were inaccurate; there were significant overpayments starting in the second quarter of 2002 that resulted in a balance due D.R. Systems, Inc. from the Board; and the credit taken in the th ird quarter of 2004 was an offset of an overpayment determined to have been made starting in the second quarter of 2002 and rolled forward from the ensuing quarters. In another conversation, Osgood told Zuck erman that he needed to add the phrase, "I declare under penalty of perjury . . . " to his memo. She did not direct him to file Board's "Claim for Refund or Cr edit" form (form BOE-101). As a result of their conversations, on Ja nuary 7, 2005, Zuckerman sent Board a memorandum almost identical to those sent the prior month. In its entirety, the5 memorandum, again captioned, "Self Audit of Prior Year Revenues" (capitalization omitted), reads: "During the current year we have been performing a self-audit of revenue and sales tax. We reviewed the books from 2001 through 2003. During July 2004, we showed a large credit balance due to us from the stat e for sales tax. When we combined the prior ye ar with the current year our cr edit balance changed. We are currently completely reconciled and we have the backup to show the process we went through to clean up the books. We would appreciate the cons ideration of the State in waiving penalties and interest since we were working in good faith to clean up the prior years and current year accounting. The pr ior Controller who worked here since the company's inception was not very good. I have been here just over a year and have now cleaned everything up. The actual sales tax activity for the month of July 2004 was [$]19,268.49. I declare under penalty of perjur y that the statements I have made are true and accurate." On February 8, 2005, Board responded to Zuckerman's letter, informing him it would relieve the penalties, but not the inte rest, for the third quarter of 2004. In August 2005, Board sent an audit letter to plain tiff. Though Zuckerman was prepared to begin, the auditor did not act ually contact him until November 2005. The Board's audit began in December 2005. In January 2006, Zuckerman filed a waiver of limitation form consenting to an extension of the time by which the Board could make a deficiency determination to July 31, 2006, for the period covering October 1, 2002, through March 31, 2003.6 On May 12, 2006, Zuckerman filed a BO E-101 claim for refund form seeking a credit or refund of $6 49,464. In it, Zuckerman wrote: "Amended returns have been filed for the period of 4/1/2002 through 12/31/2005. The last audit peri od for DR Systems was through the period of 3/31/2002. This pr ior audit period of DR Systems from 1992 through 3/31/2002 did not catch the error of collecting sales tax on Service Contracts." 3 In June 2006, Zuckerman filed an extens ion to his original waiver extending the time by which the Board could make a deficien cy determination to October 31, 2006. In early 2007, as a result of its audit, Board issued plain tiff a refund of over $390,300 in taxes and interest. However, Bo ard advised plaintiff it had not filed a timely claim for refund with respect to its second and third quarter 2002 overpayments, and disallowed any refund for those overpayments. Plaintiff unsuccessfully participated in an administrative appeals process, as well as a hearing before the el ected members of the Board. In July 2009, plaintiff filed a complaint against Bo ard seeking a refund of

3 The form contains a section in which the taxpayer is to describe what caused the overpayment. Plaintiff set forth the following statement: "A letter was written in January of 2005 describing the process of reconcilin g the prior periods from 2001 through 2003 and rolling the credit balances forward. It st ates that the credit ba lances are changing. This implies that the amount due to the State Board is changi ng and is an implied request for refund that was taken on the 3rd Quarte r 2004 return. The letter also requests a waiver of penalties and interest. The second claim for refund relates to charging sales tax on service contracts. It has b een determined that sales tax should not be charged and we would like to refund this money back to ou r customers. The th ird claim relates to incorrectly reporting sales occurring in the San Mateo District. This resulted in a determination letter of $908. This revenue should have been reported in the Santa Barbara District. The fourth relates to over reported sales and use tax erroneously reported by prior controller."7 $283,410.80 in sales and use tax that was allegedly overpaid for the second and third quarters of 2002 (the period of April 1, 2002, to October 1, 2002). Plaintiff subsequently filed first and second amended complaints. Board moved for summary judgment on gr ounds the court lack ed jurisdiction over plaintiff's second amended complaint because plaintiff had not filed a timely claim for a refund under section 6932, and thus had not exhausted its administrative remedies before filing suit. It also argued the action was barred by the three-year statute of limitations of section 6902. It asserted as undisputed that the statute of limitations for the second and third quarters of 2002 ran on July 31, 2005, and October 31, 2005, respectively. Plaintiff filed its own cross-motion for summary judgme nt and alternatively summary adjudication on grounds its claims were not barred by the statute of limita tions. It argued its letters dated December 8, 2004, and January 7, 2005, constituted a valid and timely claim for refund, and Board should be est opped from claiming otherwise. In opposition to Board's motion, plai ntiff argued it had properly exhausted its administrative remedies. It maintained the terms "credit" and "refund" were interchangeable, and the wording of its Ja nuary 7, 2005 letter, which had requested a credit rather than a refund, su fficiently addressed the purpose of the claims statute. Plaintiff asked the court to inte rpret the claim for refund stat utes equitably, and interpret its communications liberally so that th e Board would offset any time-barred tax overpayment against plaintiff's future tax lia bilities. It filed objections to Board's evidence.8 Alternatively, plaintiff argued the cour t should conclude based on all of the communications that Board was on notice of plaintiff's claim that it was entitled to a refund. It maintained its January 7, 2005 letter, combined with Zuckerman's communications with Osgood and her later in structions to Zucker man, sufficed to put Board on notice of its claim; that the wording of the Ja nuary 7, 2005 letter did not determine its sufficiency, and an y ambiguity in the requirements of section 6904 must be interpreted against the Board and in plainti ff's favor as the taxpayer. Plaintiff further argued Board should be estopped from asserti ng that plaintiff did not comply with the refund statutes. Plaintiff submitted an opposing declara tion from Zuckerman in which he stated that in preparing his January 7, 2005 letter he had followed Osgood's directions, and if she had directed him to file a BOE-101 form, he would have done so . Pointing to a tax, interest and penalty worksheet from Board, he pointed out that in July 2004, Board was still adjusting for the second quarter 2002 overpayments. He stated, "The [Board] was clearly aware that there were overpayments and adjustments were required." Zuckerman stated that his May 12, 2006 filing was done at the direc tion of a Board employee, and was timely for the second and th ird quarters of 2002. Overruling plaintiff's objections, the co urt granted summary judgment in Board's favor. The court ruled it did not have jurisd iction over the subject matter of plaintiff's second amended complaint; that plaintiff had not exhausted its administrative remedies because it failed to file a timely and valid cl aim for refund. In particular, it ruled the January 7, 2005 letter did not request a tax re fund or specify ground s for a refund. The9 court stated: "[T]he January 7, 2005 letter do es not provide sufficient notice to defendant [Board] that plaintiff is making a claim for refund for the periods at issue, April 1, 2002[,] through September 30, 2002[,] (2Q02 and 3Q02[).] The January 7, 2005 letter does not state that plaintiff is requesting a ref und of taxes paid for the periods at issue. The January 7, 2005 letter does not state a ny specific grounds upon which the claim was founded. Therefore, the January 7, 2005 lette r is an inadequate claim for a refund." Additionally, the court ruled that exhibits B, C, and D to the second amended complaint (Board's November 21, 2002 letter; March 3, 2003 letter; and Board's tax, interest, and penalty worksheet) either separately or read in conjunction with the January 7, 2005 letter, did not constitute a claim for refund, as none of the documents specified a grounds for refund or the period fo r which a refund was being sought. The court found the doctrine of equitable estoppel "i napplicable." It distinguished J.H. McKnight Ranch, Inc. v. Franchise Tax Board (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 978 ( McKnight ) as factually inapposite, and ruled permitting plaintiff to ignore the stat ute of limitations in this case would be contrary to public policy. The court ruled plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment/adjudication was "moot." Following an unsuccessful mo tion for reconsideration, plaintiff filed this appeal.
DISCUSSION
I. Summary Judgment Standards A "party moving for summary judgment b ears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co ., supra , 25 Cal.4th at p. 85 0, fn. omitted.)10 A moving defendant has the in itial burden of production enta iling it to "present[] . . . 'evidence' " ( id . at p. 850, citing Evid. Code, § 110 ) that would support a prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable is sue of material fact; that " 'one or more elements of' the 'cause of action' in question 'cannot be es tablished' or that 'there is a complete defense' thereto." ( Aguilar , at p. 850; Code Civ. Pr oc., § 437c, subd. (p)(2).) A defendant moving for summary judgment on an affirmative defense must persuade the court there is no material fact for a reasonable trier of fact to find as to that defense. ( Aguilar , at p. 850, fn. 11.) If this burden is me t, the burden of production shifts to the opposing party to make a prima facie showi ng of a triable issue of material fact. ( Id . at p. 850.) On appeal from a summary judgment, we review the record de novo, considering all of the evidence presented by the parties except evidence pr operly excluded by the trial court. ( Merrill v. Navegar, Inc . (2001) 26 Cal.4th 465, 476 .) We view the evidence under the same principles applicable at the trial level, and becaus e Board prevailed on the motions, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiff; we strictly construe Board's evidence and liberally construe plaintiff's, resolving doubts concerning the evidence in plai ntiff's favor. ( Conroy v. Regents of University of Cal ., supra , 45 Cal.4th at pp. 1249-1250; In re Martinez (2012) 210 Cal.Ap p.4th 800, 815.)
II. Taxpayer Remedies for Cont ested Sales and Use Taxes Article XIII, section 32 of the Califor nia Constitution provide s: "No legal or equitable process shall issue in any proceedi ng in any court against this State or any officer thereof to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax. After payment of a tax11 claimed to be illegal, an action may be mainta ined to recover the ta x paid, with interest, in such manner as may be pr ovided by the Legislature ." (Italics added.) The Legislature provides that before a ta xpayer may file an action against the State to recover a sales tax already paid, he or she must first file a clai m with the Board for a refund. (§§ 6932 , 6901-6908; see Preston v. State Bd. of Equalization (2001) 25 Cal.4th 197, 206 ( Preston ).) Section 6932 states: "No suit or proceeding shall be maintained in any court for the recovery of any amount alle ged to have been erroneously or illegally determined or collected unless a claim for refu nd or credit has been duly filed pursuant to Article 1 (commencing w ith Section 6901)." The claim "shall be in writing and shall state the specific gr ounds upon which the claim is founded." (§ 6904, subd. (a); see Preston , 25 Cal.4th at p. 206.) In addition, a suit against the State, following the Board' s action on the claim for refund, "must be based 'on the grounds set forth in the claim' for refund. (§ 6933.) It may not include issues ' not raised in the claim.' " ( Preston , at p. 206.) Thus, the claim frames and restricts the issues to be litigated. ( Ibid ; King v. State Bd. of Equalization (1972) 22 Cal.App.3d 1006, 1015.) Though a court is " 'without jurisdiction to consider grounds not set forth in the claim,' " it may consider any contentions "intertwined with contentions expressly raised in the refund claim . . . ." ( Preston , at p. 206.) The policy underlying secti on 6932, requiring a taxpayer to file a claim with the Board before commencing a tax refund lawsuit, is to give the Board an opportunity to correct any mistakes, thereby avoiding the cost of litigation and the consumption of judicial resources. ( Preston , supra , 25 Cal.4th at p. 206.)12 A taxpayer filing a return on other than an annual basis must file for a refund within three years fro m the last day of the month following the close of the quarterly period for which the overpa yment was made. (§ 6902, subd. (a)(1).) The time period within which to file a claim for refund is juri sdictional; thus, if a taxpayer fails to exhaust all administrative refund proced ures, the trial court is depriv ed of jurisdiction to order a refund of any overpaid taxes. ( Philips v. Ober Electric Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 723, 728.)
III. Plaintiff's Memoranda and Comm unications Were Insufficient as a Matter of Law to Put the Board on Notice of A Demand for Refund or Spe cific Grounds for a Refund Plaintiff contends that Zuckerman's January 7, 2005 letter, either alone or combined with Zu ckerman's prior letters and conver sation with Osgood, constitutes a timely claim for refund that put Board on noti ce of its claim, satisfying section 6904. Alternatively, it argues triable issues of material fact exist as to whet her the statements in the January 7, 2005 letter constitute "speci fic grounds upon which the claim is founded" within the meaning of section 6904, and whet her a claim was timely asserted. Plaintiff maintains that the issue presen ted for this court is not whet her the grounds stated in the January 7, 2005 letter and others were sufficiently specific, but "whether the sufficiency of the specificity of the grounds stated is a triable issue of material fact." It argues the facts here are "highly analogous" to McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th 978, and that under Newman v. Franchise Tax Bd. (1989) 208 Cal.App.3d 972 ( Newman ), the nomenclature used in its January 7, 2005 le tter does not determine its sufficiency.13 A. McKnight and Newman
In McKnight , the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) a udited the 1990 return of J.H. McKnight Ranch (Ranch), and assessed over $97,000 in additional state taxes after determining that a certain discharg ed debt was taxable income. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 982.) Ranch filed a pr otest of the assessment, contending the discharged amount was not taxable inco me under a legal doctrine known as the "contested liability doctrine." ( Id . at p. 983.) After Ranch unsuccessfully attempted to resolve the dispute with the FTB's settlement bureau, it paid the disputed amount and filed an amended 1990 return and claim for a refund. ( Ibid .) It then filed an action in superior court, after which the trial court re ached a decision and entered a judgment in its favor awarding the overpaid taxes plus interest. ( Ibid .) On the FTB's appeal from the judgment , the FTB conceded the discharged debt was not taxable under the contested liability doctrine, and that Ranch did not owe the over $97,000 in taxes it ha d paid when it filed its amended 1990 return. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 9 85.) Rather, the FTB conte nded Ranch was procedurally barred from a refund because it failed to ex haust its administrative remedies under sections 19382 and 19322, the latter of which provides: "Every [administrative] claim for refund shall be in writing, shall be signe d by the taxpayer or the taxpayer's authorized representative, and shall state the specif ic grounds upon which it is founded."14 ( McKnight , at p. 986.) 4 Specifically, the FTB asserted that the statutes set forth a pleading requirement, requiring the taxpayer to plead a particular ground within the four corners of its filed refund claim. ( Ibid .) The Court of Appeal disagreed. It agre ed with Ranch that the exhaustion statutes set out a notice requirement. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 986.) Addressing the Legislature's intent, it stated: " 'The purpose of these st atutory [exhaustion] requirements is to ensure that the Board r eceives sufficient notice of the claim and its basis. [Citation.] The Board then has an opportunity to correct any mistakes, thereby conserving judicial resources. [Citation.]' [Citation.] Section 19322 'requires no particular form; the claim only must be in wr iting and state the grounds therefor. Indeed, the purpose of the statute is to put the board on notice of a claim . . . .' [Citation.] [¶] Satisfaction of this goal—notice to the Board so that it may rectify mi stakes and conserve judicial resources—does not hinge on whether a particular issue is recited expressly in the initial claim for refund. If the Board has notice of the taxpayer's argument from whatever source during the course of re solving the claim for refund, it has the opportunity to reevaluate its position, reach th e correct result, and obv iate the need for a subsequent lawsuit. We see no basis fo r construing the statutes setting out the administrative exhaustion requirement so as to ignore actual notice the Board may have

4 The McKnight court observed that the exhausti on statues for sales and use taxes and income tax were identical, and it treate d authorities involving sales and use taxes such as Preston , supra , 25 Cal.4th 197 equa lly persuasive. For the same reason, McKnight 's reasoning, though involving exhausti on under the income tax statutes, is equally applicable here.15 had from sources other than the four corners of the initial claim." ( McKnight , at pp. 986- 987, fn. omitted.) McKnight suggested that these principles were applied by the California Supreme Court in Wallace Berrie & Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization (1985) 40 Cal.3d 60, as well as the Court of Appeal in Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. State Bd. of Equalization (1988) 204 Cal.App.3d 1269. In Wallace Berrie , the high court held that the exhaustion of administrative remedies doctrine did not prev ent a taxpayer's challenge to the validity of a State Board of Equalization regulation in its refund claim. Because the Board of Equalization in that case was aware of the issu e as evidenced by the fact it addressed it on the merits at trial, the plaintiff had not failed to exhaust its administrative remedies, whether or not the particular challenge was actually raised in the refund claim. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 987, discussing Wallace Berrie , 40 Cal.3d at p. 66, fn. 2.) In Jimmy Swaggart , the Court of Appeal looked beyond just the initial claim and considered the entire record before the Board, including the Board's denial that any exemption applied and its staff analysis of th e plaintiff's petition for redetermination, to hold the taxpayer in that case had not raised various constitutional claims in its claim for refund, in which it had asserted onl y a First Amendment argument. ( Jimmy Swaggart , 204 Cal.App.3d at pp. 1291-1292; see McKnight , at p. 987.) The taxpayer's refund claim had read simply: " 'California cannot constitutionally impose a sales tax.' " ( Jimmy Swaggart , at p. 1291.) McKnight applied "longstanding policy" concer ning refund claims: " 'It has long been the policy of California courts to liberally construe claims for refund of taxes. "In16 recognition of the reality that many, if not most, applicants are laymen who would be denied hearings if formalized technical ru les were followed, it has been the judicial policy of this state to construe such applications liberally in fa vor of the applicant. It has been stated that an application is adequate an d 'the purpose of the statutory requirement is served if the board may know from said app lication "or have some reasonable means of ascertaining" therefrom what th e claim of the applicant is, to the end that such claims may be investigated by the assessing auth orities prior to the hearing.' " ' " ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4t h at p. 988.)
In McKnight , the appellate court held that th e evidence before the trial court revealed that the Board was aware of Ra nch's contested liability argument; the court observed Ranch's initial claim fo r refund did not recite the do ctrine as an express basis for refund of the tax, but in dicated that it was challenging the denial of its original protest. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 988.) It pointed out a Board auditor had reviewed the protest hearing report that included Ranch's assert ion of the contested liability doctrine ( id . at pp. 988-989) and there was ot her evidence sugges ting the auditor knew or soon learned that the c ontested liability doctrine was still at issue, including the testimony of one of Ranch's atto rneys that he had discussed th e " 'same things I discussed at the lower level' " with the auditor. ( Id . at p. 989.) The claim for refund also indicated that Ranch was " 'protesting the [Board's] di sallowance' " of its exclusion from income, "a statement which could be interpreted to incorporate by reference the panoply of arguments raised and rejected in the protest proceeding." ( Id . at pp. 989-990.) According to the McKnight court, the subjective belief of the auditor was not dispositive;17 the Board had received "notice of the releva nt facts surrounding the claim and notice of a legal doctrine under which, indisputably, [Ran ch] owed no tax. The Board's auditor thus had the opportunity to rectify the Board's mistakes in is suing the initial assessment and denying the subsequent protest." ( Id . at p. 990.)
Newman , supra , 208 Cal.App.3d 972, involved an actor's claim for a refund of state income tax for three years (1975, 19 76 and 1977) on the gr ound the tax on his income for a particular film was determin ed under an inappropriate formula. ( Id . at pp. 975-976.) After a court trial on stipulated fact s, the trial court dete rmined the plaintiffs had given legally sufficient notice of their claim for refund for a portion of their 1975 taxes, rejecting the Board's position that no cl aim was properly filed or that the Board did not have statutory notice. ( Id . at p. 976.) On the Board's appeal, the appellate court held the pl aintiff's May 14, 1982 letter constituted a claim for refund for the year 1975. ( Newman , supra , 208 Cal.App.3d at p. 979-980.) It was undisputed that the date by wh ich the plaintiffs were to file their claim for refund was J une 15, 1982. ( Id . at p. 979.) As described by the Newman court, the plaintiffs had filed a document on May 14, 1982 nominally entitled "prote st." In part, the letter stated: " 'The notice of proposed asse ssment resulted from a recent Franchise Tax Board Examination. The Fran chise Tax Board auditor rais ed questions regarding the California apportionment of th e Newmans' film income but did not discuss many of the proposed adjustments prior to the issuance of his report. . . . [¶] " The Sting " Our position on income derived from "The Sting" is unchanged fro m prior years. The proper percentage of California income is 55.56 %. This is based on California work days over18 total contract days. [¶] The 1976 and 1977 returns re ported the proper amounts, however, the allowable portion of "Sting" income was overreported on the 1975 California tax return. The re turn reflected 83.30 % when only 55.56 % should have been reported.' " ( Newman , at p. 979.) Explaining that "[t]he sufficiency of a claim does not turn on the nomenclature used," the Newman court on these facts held the letter "clearly satisfie[d]" the requirements of the statutory requirement th at the claim be in writing and state the grounds therefor, because it a pprised the Board that the pl aintiffs conte nded they had overreported their income in 1975. ( Newman , supra , 208 Cal.App.3d at pp. 979-980.) It agreed that the plaintiffs' written statement regarding th eir position on the overpayment, and the Board's knowledge of their proposed allocation, qualified the May 14, 1982 document as a claim for refund. ( Id . at p. 980.)
B. Plaintiff's Representation That a Credit Balance was Due fr om the State, and Board's Awareness of the Background Circumstances, is Insufficient to Put the Board on Notice that Plaintiff Was S eeking a Refund for the Periods in Question Plaintiff argues that lik e the circumstances in McKnight , the dispute here arose over the legitimacy of the credit taken on plaintiff's third quart er 2004 return, after which its principal Zuckerman contacted the Board to explain the credit, received input from the Board employee on the contents of the claim letter, and res ubmitted it. It asserts the wording Zuckerman used in the January 7, 2005 letter is not determinative, nor is the fact his memo omitted the words "claim for refund. " Rather, plaintiff contends that under19 Newman , supra , 208 Cal.App.3d 972, it need only " ' put [the Board] on notice that a right is being asserted with respect to an overpayment of tax.' " McKnight and Newman are inapposite. The plaintiffs in Newman plainly challenged the FTB's proposed assessment and described an apportionment formula they proposed should apply, which would permit th e FTB to make a meaningful investigation and determination of the issues presented, so as to possibly rectify the situation. And unlike McKnight , in which the Ranch timely protested an assessment based on a specific legal doctrine which (the FTB conceded) elim inated its tax liability and then filed a refund claim, plaintiff's January 7, 2005 repo rt of a credit balance for overpayments made in the second and third quarters of 2002 did not prov ide any specific factual or legal basis to recover its overpayments other than a vagu e claim of "errors" committed by its prior controller. Indeed, the main th rust of plaintiff's January 7, 2005 memo was a request that the Board waive interest and penalties assessed for plain tiff's past due payment in connection with its third quarte r 2004 return. It is undisputed that Board had already notified plaintiff of overpaymen ts during the second and third quarters of 2002, for which plaintiff took credits in subsequent quarters . There is no evidence suggesting, or from which a reasonable trier of fact may infer, th at Board should have known or suspected that the overpayments plaintiff reported from 2002 in its January 7, 2005 memo were additional or any different from those already addressed by the Board. We are not precluded from reaching this determination on motion for summary judgment, because when a ques tion involves the interpretation of a statute and the legal meaning of a written instrume nt on undisputed evidence, the question is one of law20 subject to de novo review. ( Varshock v. California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 635, 6 41 [interpretation of statut ory language presents a pure question of law on which re viewing court exercises independent judgment]; Tana v. Professionals Prototype I Ins. Co. (1996) 47 Cal.App. 4th 1612, 1616 ["Because the issue is one of law and exclusively dependent on an interpretati on of writings, on appeal from an order granting summary judgment, we exercise de novo review"].) Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd. v. Franchise Tax Bd. (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 478 and Mercury Casualty Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization (1986) 179 Cal.App.3d 34 compel our conclusion. In Mercury Casualty , the appellate court held that checks were not valid claims for refund ev en though they contained the phrase, "Paid Under Protest Subject to Claim for Refund Not Subj ect to Gross Premiums Tax." ( Mercury Casualty , 179 Cal.App.3d at pp. 37, 38, some capitaliza tion omitted.) This la nguage did not meet the provisions of the tax statute requiring such a claim to be " 'in writing and . . . state the specific grounds upon whic h it is founded.' " ( Id . at p. 39, quoting section 12979.) The court further held, relying on City of San Jose v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal.3d 447, that a governmental entities' actual know ledge of the circumst ances surrounding the claim was "no basis for disp ensing with the claim." ( Mercury Casualty , at p. 40.) Likewise, in Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd. v. Franchise Tax Bd. , supra , 235 Cal.App.3d 478, the words "pai d under protest" written on a payment did not constitute a valid or timely request for refund. There, the plaintiff cosmetics company (Shiseido), like plaintiff here, argued its refund claim c ould be pieced together by considering its prepayment protest and appeal , its having written "p aid under protest" on its payment,21 and its filing of the first lawsuit within th e one-year limitations period for filing an administrative claim. ( Id . at p. 491.) It relied on Newman , supra , 208 Cal.App.3d 972. The Court of Appeal rejected Shiseido's ar guments, explaining the words, "paid under protest" do not constitute a valid refund claim, "since th ey do not demand a refund or specify grounds fo r a refund." ( Shiseido , at p. 492.) The court relied upon Mercury Casualty Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization , supra , 179 Cal.App.3d 34 to hold the FTB's knowledge of circumstances su rrounding the claim did not excuse compliance with the refund claim requirement. The Shiseido court explained: " ' "It is well-settled that claims statutes must be satisfied even in face of the public entity's actual knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the claim. Su ch knowledge—standi ng alone—constitutes neither substantial compliance nor basis for estoppel." ' " ( Shiseido , 235 Cal.App.3d at p. 492, quoting Mercury Casualty Co ., supra , at p. 40.) The Shiseido court declined to apply federal tax authorities, observing that California's claim statutes are clear and stra ightforward and the filing of a refund claim was a simple and unburdensome act. ( Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd. v. Franchise Tax Bd. , supra , 235 Cal.App.3d at pp. 494-495.) The court was "unwilling to construe the simple, straightforward statutory requ irements in ways that would leave tax authorities in doubt as to whether refund claims have been filed and promote undesirable litigation." ( Id . at p. 495.) In short, we conclude that neither pl aintiff's December 2 004 or January 2005 communications set out sufficiently specific legal or factual bases for a claim for a refund as a matter of law, and those communications , combined w ith Zuckerman' s conversation22 with Osgood which gave Osgood general in formation about the circumstances (i.e., plaintiff's self-audit, and its controller's errors) did not put Board on notice of, and permit it to reasonably investigate or rectify a clai m for refund w ithin the meaning of section 6904.
IV. Triable Issues of Material Fact Exist as to Equitable Estoppel Despite the foregoing conclusion, we nevertheless conclude the summary judgment should be reversed b ecause plaintiff's evidence raises triable issues of material fact as to whether Board should be equitabl y estopped from relying on the administrative exhaustion requirements. Plaintiff argues application of the doctrine of equitable estoppel is appropriate. It asserts the Board was "aware of the facts as relayed to the [Board]" via Zuckerman's December 8, 2004 and January 7, 2005 memoranda, plaintiff's third quarter 2004 tax return, and Zuckerman's conversations with Osgood. According to plaintiff: "The direction of Osgood that Zuckerman write a letter laying out the facts that lead [ sic ] to the taking of the credit and the existence of a cr edit due to DR Systems, and nothing more are, without dispute, direction that was relied upon and acted upon by Zuckerman. At the time, as it attends to procedural requireme nts surrounding the asse rtion of a claim for refund, Zuckerman was not aware of any othe r method for asserting a claim for refund. Zuckerman relied to his injury on the direction of Osgood." On review of a summary judgment, we ar e to find issues requiring a trial, not resolve them. ( Millard v. Biosources, Inc. (2007) 156 Cal.App.4t h 1338, 1345.) The determination of equitable estoppel or dinarily is a question of fact. ( Platt Pacific, Inc. v.23 Andelson (1993) 6 Cal.4th 307, 319.) But when the relevant facts are undisputed and can support only one reasonable conclusion, the existe nce of an estoppel is a question of law. ( Steinhart v. County of Los Angeles (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1298, 1315 ( Steinhart ); Albers v. Los Angeles County (1965) 62 Cal.2d 250, 266, limited on other grounds in Belair v. Riverside County Flood Control Dist. (1988) 47 Cal.3d 550, 558.) "Equitable estoppel is a principle grounded in fundamental fairne ss, and ' " 'takes its life . . . from the equitable princi ple that no man [may] profit from his own wrongdoing in a court of justice.' " ' " ( County of San Diego v. Arzaga (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1336, 1348, quoting Lantzy v. Centex Homes (2003) 31 Cal.4th 363, 383; see also Steinhart , supra , 47 Cal.4th at p. 1315 [doctrine is founded on concepts of equity and fair dealing].) It is based on the theo ry that a party who by his declarations or conduct misleads another to his prejudice shoul d be estopped from obtaining the benefits of his misconduct. ( Cotta v. City and County of San Francisco (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 1550, 1567.) A valid claim fo r equitable estoppel generally requires four elements: " ' " '(1) the party to be estoppe d must be apprised of the fact s; (2) he must intend that his conduct shall be acted upon, or must so act that the party asserting the estoppel had a right to believe it was so intend ed; (3) the other party must be ignorant of the true state of facts; and (4) he must rely upon th e conduct to his injury.' " ' " ( Honeywell v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (2005) 35 Cal.4th 24, 37.) Under these principles, "A defendant ma y be equitably estopped from asserting a statutory or contractual limita tions period as a defense if th e defendant's act or omission caused the plaintiff to refrain from filing a timely suit and the plaintiff's reliance on the24 defendant's conduct was reasonable. [Citations .] The act or omission must constitute a misrepresentation or nondisclosure of a material fact , rather than law. [Citation.] The defendant need not intend to dece ive the plaintiff to give rise to an equitable estoppel." ( Superior Dispatch, Inc. v. Insu rance Corporation of New York (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 175, 186; see also Steinhart , supra , 47 Cal.4th at p. 1315.) "A nondisclosure is a cause of injury if the plaintiff would have acted so as to avoid injury had the plaintiff known the concealed fact." ( Superior Dispatch , at p. 187.) Whether a plaintiff's reliance is reasonable is a question of fact unless reas onable minds can reach only one conclusion based on the evidence. ( Ibid .) The fact a plaintiff is repr esented by counsel, as well as the scope and timing of the representation, are relevant to the question of the reasonableness of the plaintiff's reliance. ( Id . at pp. 187-188.) As Board points out, equitable estopp el " 'ordinarily will not apply against a governmental body except in unusual instances when necessary to avoid grave injustice and when the result will not defeat a strong public policy.' " ( Steinhart , supra , 47 Cal.4th at p. 1315.) For purposes of its motion, Board accepts , as it must, that Zu ckerman spoke with Osgood in December 2 004, telling her he had found errors committed by plaintiff's prior controller and "[t]here had b een significant overpayments made starting in [the second quarter of 2002] which resulted in a balance due to DR Systems fro m the [Board]." It accepts that in response, Osgo od "indicated [to Zuckerman] th at the next step was for [him] to write a letter to the SBE, under penalty of perjury explaining that there was a balance owed to DR Systems, Inc." Th is was not a conclusion of law, but a25 representation of fact as to what Zuckerman should do to call the Bo ard's attention to plaintiff's overpayments, or at least an omissi on as to how best to alert the Board of the overpayments. (Accord, Superior Dispatch, Inc. v. In surance Corporation of New York , supra , 181 Cal.App.4th at pp. 190- 191 [nondisclosure of policy terms stated in a contract was a nondisclosure of facts rather than legal conclusions, and reasonableness of plaintiff's reliance—its failure to discover the provision by other means—was likewise a question of fact].) Under the circumstances, estoppel may apply if plaintiff can show Zuckerman reasonably relied on Osgood's statements to plain tiff's detriment. This again is a question of fact that is not amenable on summary judgment. (See Superior Dispatch, Inc. v. Insurance Corporation of New York , supra , 181 Cal.App.4th at pp. 187-188; Vu v. Prudential Property & Casualty Inc. Co. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1142, 1152 [insurer's inspector's representation that total cost of repairs was le ss than an insu rance policy's deductible was a communication of specific f acts describing the nature and amount of damage that might estop the insurer from ra ising a statute of limitations defense where plaintiff could show he reasonably relied on the representation; whether the plaintiff's reliance was reasonable "depend[ed] on a myriad of factual questions . . . includ[ing]: whether [plaintiff] was qualified to evaluate the damage or had to rely on an expert [citation]; what [he] told th e inspector about his damage ; whether the inspector was qualified and, if not, whether [t he plaintiff] knew of his lack of qualification; whether the inspector examined the entire property and, if not, whether [the plaintiff] knew the inspection was more limited; wh at lead [the plaintiff] to suspect his damage was greater26 than the policy's deductible amoun t, and whether [the plainti ff] then acted diligently after he so suspected"].) The reasonableness of Zuckerman's reliance requires additional inquiry as to issues such as Zuckerman's qualifications, knowledge and experience in similar tax matters, Osgood's qualificati ons, and Zuckerman's knowledge of her qualifications. Board maintains that under Steinhart , supra , 47 Cal.4th 1298, plaintiff's claim of equitable estoppel fails as a matter of law. But Steinhart involved a plaintiff represented by counsel who had confirmed he had read the applicable statutory scheme governing tax refunds. ( Steinhart , supra , 47 Cal.4th at p. 1317, fn. 13.) The California Supreme Court observed the plaintiff's legal representati on was a "significant" circumstance: "In general, the law 'particularly' disfavors estoppe ls 'where the party a ttempting to raise the estoppel is represented by an attorney at law, ' " who is " 'charged with knowledge of the law in California.' " ( Id . at p. 1316; see also Advanced Network, Inc. v. Peerless Ins. Co. (2010) 190 Cal.App. 4th 1054, 1068; Jordan v. City of Sacramento (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 1487, 1497.) Here, there is no evidence Zu ckerman was represented by counsel, or other facts indicating that as a matter of law he should be charged with the knowledge of the legal requirements for, or steps leading to, a valid claim for a refund under section 6904. Equitable estoppel nevertheless will not apply if doing so would "effectively nullify 'a strong rule of policy, adopted for the bene fit of the public.' " ( City of Long Beach v. Mansell (1970) 3 Cal.3d 462, 493.) In McKnight , the appellate court held the Board was precluded under princi ples of equitable estoppel from separately arguing that27 plaintiff could not recover its unowed tax for its failure to pursue the refund claim to a merits-based denial. ( McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at p. 990.) McKnight observed it was the Board that had intr oduced the possibility of an early termination of the plaintiff's claim as a way to expedite resolu tion in the courts, and plaintiff had accepted the offer of termination and filed suit. ( Id . at p. 992.) It found the equities favored estoppel: "On the one hand, denial of an estoppel would permit the Board to retain approximately $97,000 that was never owed by the taxpayer. On the other hand, a ruling in favor of the taxpayer woul d not impair the public polic y in favor of exhaustion of remedies significantly. The exhaustion of remedi es doctrine exists to allow an agency to apply its expertise before court resources are called upon, with the expectation that some lawsuits will be rendered unnecessary (becau se the agency correct s a mistake) and the remainder will proceed on a be tter-developed record . [Citations.] Here, the Board was alerted to the relevant legal principle and had facts before it showing that that legal principle entitled [plaintiff] to a refund. Over the course of years of proceedings, it had the opportunity to change its mind and obviat e the need for a lawsuit. It nevertheless adhered to its position that the tax was owed up until this appeal. Ruling for the Board on exhaustion grounds would do little to encourage administra tive resolutions in the future." ( Id . at p. 992.) Because as a matter of s ubstantive tax law no tax was due, equity would allow application of estoppel, and " 'justice and right require it.' " ( Id . at p. 993, quoting Lentz v. McMahon (1989) 49 Cal.3d 393, 399.) The Board may be bound by equitable es toppel where the "injustice which would result from a failure to u phold an estoppel is of sufficien t dimension to justify any effect28 upon public interest or policy which would re sult from the raising of an estoppel." ( City of Long Beach v. Mansell , supra , 3 Cal.3d at pp. 496-497; West Washington Properties, LLC v. California Dept. of Transp. (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 11 36, 1146.) Indeed, these facts present the sort of case in which es toppel against a governmental agency may be appropriate, that is, it is a situation wher e the claim is that a government agent has negligently or intentionally caused a claimant to fail to comply with a procedural precondition, and the failure to invoke estoppel would cause an injus tice to the claimant. (See Lentz v. McMahon , supra , 49 Cal.3d at pp. 401-402 [h olding application of estoppel would not seriously undermine the interests represented by th e statute of limitations to encourage the timely presentation of clai m and prevent windfall benefits; "Estoppel against a county's assertion of purely procedural preconditions and limitations on benefits, when the county itself is responsible for the procedural default, will not defeat the underlying statutory policy of safeguarding accurate and orderly administration of the welfare system"]; McKnight , supra , 110 Cal.App.4th at pp. 992-993.)
V. "Self-Help" Credit Taken in Plai ntiff's Third Quarter 2004 Return Lastly, plaintiff challenges the trial cour t's ruling as to the $59,232.46 credit taken in its third quarter 2004 return for second an d third quarter 2002 overpayments. Plaintiff maintains the credit was pushed outside the statute of limitations by Board's 2006 audit; that the $59,232.46 amount taken as a credit is within the period of the waiver letters and it should be allowed a refund of that amount based on its claim filed on May 12, 2006. It compares the circumst ances to those in Sprint Communications Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 1254, in which the court held a taxing authority may29 raise as a set off against a taxpayer's refund action a tax deficiency that is otherwise barred from the taxing authorities assess ment by the statute of limitations. Sprint held that " '[a] refund case throws open the taxpayer's entire tax liability for the period in question [citation], and the Board may raise issues unrelated to the basis or theory on which the tax payer is seeking a refund in order to defeat th e claim.' . . . In other words, while a taxpayer's refund claim might be proper, there might be other items which the taxpayer omitted from its return for that year, which if included would show that the taxpayer had underpaid its tax." ( Sprint Communications Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization , supra , 40 Cal.App.4th at p. 1260.) The proposition flows from the principle that a suit to recover a tax refund is an action in equity governed by equitable principles that " 'limit recovery to the diffe rence between the tax ac tually paid and that which properly should be exacted, and . . . prevent reco very if the taxpayer paid only his fair and just propor tion of taxes.' " ( Id . at p. 1259, quoting Simms v. County of Los Angeles (1950) 35 Cal.2d 303, 316.) We conclude, as Board argues, that Sprint does not stand for the proposition that a taxpayer may offset overpaid sales and use ta xes that are otherwise time-barred from a refund action against future taxes owed . However, because the $59,232.46 is encompassed within the overpayments assertedly paid in the second and third quarters of 2002 that Zuckerman addressed with Osgo od in his December 2004 and January 2005 communications, it is subject to the trier of fa ct's determination of equitable estoppel. Though plaintiff sought summary adjudication "on the issue of whether a letter sent to the [Board] on January 7, 2005 co nstitutes a Claim for Refund," Board did not30 seek summary adjudication of that issue. Acco rdingly, in view of the existence of triable issues of material fact as to the applicati on of equitable estoppel, we reverse the summary judgment.
DISPOSITION The judgment is reversed. The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.

O'ROURKE, J. WE CONCUR:
BENKE, Acting P. J.

McINTYRE, J.