Bill Text: CA SB582 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Tax information: administration.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2014-02-27 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [SB582 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB582-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 582 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 13, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Knight
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Harkey)
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Section 39 to the Revenue and Taxation Code,
relating to taxation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 582, Knight. Tax information: administration.
Existing law imposes various taxes that are administered by the
Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and the
Employment Development Department.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2015, the
Franchise Tax Board, the State Board of Equalization, and the
Employment Development Department to collaborate and focus the
agencies' current and future information technology efforts to
conduct a feasibility study on the development of a single Internet
Web site portal that virtually consolidates the agencies to enable
online, self-service access to the agencies, as provided, and to
submit the study to the Legislature. This bill would also require
these agencies, upon a joint determination by the agencies that a
need exists to improve cost-effective services to taxpayers and an
appropriation by the Legislature, to consolidate forms, applications,
and other documents to reduce or eliminate the number of multiple
submissions of the same information by taxpayers.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California relies on three separate state agencies to
administer and enforce its major taxes.
(b) To obtain assistance and comply with California's tax laws,
policies, and procedures, many taxpayers must interact with all three
agencies, and frequently with multiple departments within those
agencies.
(c) While this system has performed reasonably well in many
respects, the multiagency nature of the system is prone to certain
inherent problems, difficulties, and inefficiencies, and is
particularly complex for taxpayers required to comply with California'
s tax laws.
(d) Over the past decades, numerous reports have been prepared and
various legislative proposals have been considered on the topic of
coordination and cooperation among these three agencies. The focus of
these efforts range from relatively minor aspects of increased
cooperation to proposals for full consolidation of the agencies under
"one roof."
(e) Focusing on the customer should be a core element of
California's tax administration. Taxpayers should not have to
understand complex government structures and relationships in order
to interact with the government, particularly in a sensitive area
like taxes.
(f) The California Tax Service Center, available at
www.taxes.ca.gov, provides an assortment of independent departmental
forms, returns, and links, tied together by a common homepage on the
Internet, and is intended to provide California taxpayers with
resources and educational programs with a goal as a one-stop tax
assistance hub.
(g) The California Tax Service Center can be used to better serve
California's taxpaying community by virtually consolidating the three
agencies' operations to enable them to appear as one unified
organization with the goal of providing a seamless experience for
taxpayers in their online interactions with the agencies.
(h) It is therefore in California's best interest to develop an
Internet Web-based, taxpayer-focused system that virtually
consolidates the State Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax
Board, and the Employment Development Department. In developing a
taxpayer-focused system, the fundamental objective should be a
platform that provides an integrated experience for taxpayers, to
enable online self-service access with a single logon for all three
agencies, and to provide pertinent and essential information that
will enable taxpayers to satisfy their payment and reporting
obligations, obtain real-time information pertinent to their
individual accounts, and provide assistance that will enable
taxpayers to achieve optimum compliance with California's complex tax
system.
SEC. 2. Section 39 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to
read:
39. (a) (1) On or before January 1, 2015, the board, the
Franchise Tax Board, and the Employment Development Department shall
collaborate and focus their current and future information technology
efforts to conduct a feasibility study on the development of a
single Internet Web-based portal that virtually consolidates the
agencies to enable online, self-service access through a single logon
for taxpayers to electronically file returns, submit forms or other
information, determine account balances and due dates of taxes, remit
amounts due, identify the status of any appeal, claim for refund,
request for relief of interest or penalty, and any other information
the agencies deem helpful to the taxpayer to assist in compliance
with the state's tax laws. The feasibility study shall consider
California Tax Service Center Internet Web site in its analysis.
(2) The feasibility study shall be conducted with the existing
budgets of the board, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Employment
Development Department. An appropriation shall not be made by the
Legislature to fund the feasibility study.
(3) The feasibility study shall be submitted to the Legislature no
later than six months after the study is completed and shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795.
(4) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2018,
pursuant to Section 10231.5.
(b) As part of this effort, upon a joint determination by the
agencies that a need exists to improve cost-effective services to
taxpayers and an appropriation by the Legislature, these agencies
shall also consolidate forms, applications, and other documents to
reduce or eliminate the number of multiple submissions of the same
information by taxpayers.
