CA State Module -- Franchise Tax -- Wrong tax treatment

The chatbots produced materially inconsistent calculations or interpretations of California's business-franchise tax (imposed under California Revenue and Taxation Code §23151 et seq.), which imposes a minimum franchise tax and an 8.84% rate on net income for corporations. Because the AIs disagreed with each other and at least one answer was flagged as a hallucination, at least one—and possibly all—of the responses contained incorrect tax liability figures. The correct liability is determinable under Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §23151 and the FTB's published guidance, not by averaging or selecting the highest AI estimate.

The consultant, unable to trust any AI answer, defaulted to paying the highest amount suggested, likely resulting in overpayment of California franchise tax and potential cash-flow harm, with no assurance the highest figure was even correct.