CSEA End of Year Bill Update


The 2018 legislative calendar is over and the Governor has finished signing bills. Some notable victories for CSEA advocacy this year are:
 
AB 2503: Administrative Dissolution (signed into law on September 22) - AB 2503 addresses a longstanding problem wherein taxpayers form business entities and fail to properly close them, either because the entity was never launched or because they have closed the entity and filed final returns with the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), but failed to dissolve properly with the Secretary of State (SOS).
 
AB 3143: CTEC Sunset (signed into law on September 20) - This bill extends the life of the California Tax Education Council (CTEC), previously due to sunset January 1, 2019, until January 1, 2023. CSEA supported this bill because EAs will continue to have a representative on the Council through the new sunset date.
 
SB 274: Partnerships (signed into law on September 23) - This bill eases tax administration by establishing a process for taxpayers to report and pay California taxes that result from federal partnership audit adjustments. CSEA supported this bill because it eases tax code administration and compliance.
 
Among the bills that weren’t passed but continue to stay on CSEA’s radar is SB 1508, a committee bill that would have provided a needed fix to the Voluntary Disclosure Program. This bill was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee, reportedly due to cost. CSEA legislative advocate Jennifer Tannehill has assured us that she will identify the snag and see if we can remedy the problem next year.
 
In addition, the most recent iteration of Tax on Services, SB 993, was stalled in Committee in May, but that will not be the last we hear of it. Senator Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) is motivated to see movement on this issue and will likely bring it up again next session. However, thanks to our strong coalition and our motivated Members, we are well established to address this issue in the future.