Bill Text: CA AB1863 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Income tax: CalFile: online tax filing: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 953, Statutes of 2022. [AB1863 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB1863-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
May 19, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 19, 2022 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
March 24, 2022 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Irwin |
February 08, 2022 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 19586 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:19586.
(a) (1) Beginning January 1, 2023, the Franchise Tax Board shall notify all potential eligible individuals of available paperless filing options offered through the Franchise Tax Board, including the CalFile program. Notifications shall contain information about available paperless filing options and information about the CalEITC. (a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1987, the Franchise Tax Board shall make available to taxpayers tax forms, including those provided as a part of the ReadyReturn Program described in Section 19582.1 that are as simple as possible for taxpayers to prepare. These forms shall be designed to provide for taxpayers to copy figures from, or attach a copy of, their federal return or portions thereof, or both, and to make any necessary adjustments.
(b)The Franchise Tax Board shall, in preparing tax forms, make every effort to ease taxpayers’ compliance burden, including, but not limited to:
(1)Designing forms so that, to the maximum extent possible, items already entered on the federal return may be copied to the state form.
(2)Reducing the number of state schedules by attaching copies of comparable federal schedules to the state return, where appropriate.
(3)Choosing a weight and quality of paper, color of ink, and general form design which will facilitate the preparation of returns.
(a)(1)The ReadyReturn Program is an optional filing method that provides an eligible taxpayer a tax return using tax data of the taxpayer already collected by the Franchise Tax Board and calculations based on that data.
(2)The Franchise Tax Board shall, for a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2024, provide an eligible taxpayer with a ReadyReturn in electronic format in the manner specified in this section. The ReadyReturn shall include a record of the taxpayer’s wages that have been reported by employers. The ReadyReturn shall also provide the tax liability attributable to that income.
(b)The Franchise Tax Board shall notify an eligible
taxpayer that the ReadyReturn Program is an available filing option. The notification shall contain all of the following information:
(1)That an eligible taxpayer may choose to view or file a ReadyReturn under the program.
(2)Subject to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d), that an eligible taxpayer may request a paper version of the ReadyReturn.
(3)A description of the ReadyReturn Program that includes, but is not limited to, the following statement:
“ReadyReturn gives a taxpayer access to the wage data received from their employer. ReadyReturn gives a taxpayer the option of viewing or filing a ‘ReadyReturn.’ A ReadyReturn is a completed tax return that is based on the following: wage data received from an employer, the taxpayer’s filing status from the prior year,
amounts withheld by the employer, and additional taxes owed to the state or refund owed to the taxpayer.”
(4)Immediately below the description set forth in paragraph (3) and in boldface type and in a large type size, the following statement:
“The ReadyReturn Program is an optional service for the convenience of taxpayers with simple returns. You are under absolutely no requirement to use this program. You may choose not to look at the online program or to look at the online program and not file the ReadyReturn. You may also request a paper version of the ReadyReturn. If you choose not to view or file a ReadyReturn, this will not affect your tax liability in any way.”
(5)The statement described in paragraph (4) shall be prominently displayed on the ReadyReturn internet website and provided to every eligible
taxpayer that uses the online ReadyReturn before logging in and before electronically signing an electronically submitted ReadyReturn.
(c)(1)A negative inference shall not be drawn from a taxpayer’s decision not to file a ReadyReturn or to file a return under a different method.
(2)If an eligible taxpayer files a ReadyReturn, a penalty shall not be imposed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 19132 with respect to any tax required to be shown on that return that is not so shown.
(d)Notwithstanding Section 19542, the Franchise Tax Board shall do all of the following:
(1)Provide all taxpayers with access to wage data provided by employers and other tax return information reported by third
parties and maintained on the records of the Franchise Tax Board.
(2)Provide available tax return information to taxpayers beginning on January 1, 2024.
(3)(A)Subject to subparagraph (B), develop an alternative method for an eligible taxpayer without access to the internet to request the taxpayer’s completed ReadyReturn in paper form.
(B)The Franchise Tax Board may eliminate the paper ReadyReturn delivery option if the volume of paper ReadyReturn requests decreases below 10 percent of the total ReadyReturns filed in the immediately previous taxable year.
(e)Contingent upon the successful implementation of an authentication solution to ensure taxpayer privacy and security of taxpayer data, an eligible taxpayer shall be able to
authorize the eligible taxpayer’s preparer or agent to access any information provided as part of the ReadyReturn Program and any third party reporting information described in subdivision (d). The Franchise Tax Board shall work with providers of proprietary software to make the information described in subdivisions (a) and (b) available to taxpayers using that software.
(f)On or before January 1, 2026, the Franchise Tax Board shall submit, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, a report to the Legislature that contains all of the following information organized by taxable year:
(1)The number of ReadyReturns that were distributed.
(2)The number of ReadyReturns that were filed by an eligible taxpayer.
(3)The number of tax returns that were
filed by an eligible taxpayer that did not claim CalEITC.
(4)(A)The number of eligible taxpayers who successfully claimed CalEITC.
(B)Of the eligible taxpayers described in subparagraph (A), the number who claimed CalEITC for the first time.
(5)The number of ReadyReturns that were edited before filing.
(6)The number of ReadyReturns filed by a tax professional on behalf of an eligible taxpayer.
(7)The number of ReadyReturns filed electronically and the number filed in paper form.
(8)A description of the outreach conducted by the Franchise Tax Board with respect to the ReadyReturn Program.
(9)The number of eligible taxpayers who filed a return before receiving a ReadyReturn.
(g)For purposes of this section:
(1)“CalEITC” means the Earned Income Tax Credit allowed by Section 17052.
(2)“Eligible taxpayer” means a taxpayer eligible for CalEITC in any of the three previous taxable years.
(h)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.
