19551.3. (a) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services shall exchange data with the Franchise Tax Board, including, but not limited to, the names, addresses, and contact information of individuals that may qualify for the California Earned Income Tax Credit. The data provided shall remain confidential and shall be used only for purposes directly connected with the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, and other federal and state antipoverty tax credits.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 19542 or any other law, the Franchise Tax Board may disclose individual income tax return information for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and before January 1, 2022, to the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services. The information provided shall remain confidential and shall be used only for purposes of informing state residents of the availability of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), CalFile, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, and other federal and state antipoverty tax credits that are designed to alleviate poverty and tax burdens of low-income households. The Franchise Tax Board shall not disclose or provide any federal tax information.
(c) (1) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services that receive data from the Franchise Tax Board shall annually provide to the Franchise Tax Board, no later than January 1 of each calendar year, the results and findings of outreach conducted to measure whether the outreach achieves its intended purpose of increasing the number of claims for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, the California Earned Income Tax Credit, and other state and federal antipoverty tax credits.
(2) The information required by this subdivision shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following elements:
(A) The number of outreach contacts.
(B) The response rate to the outreach contacts referenced in subparagraph (A), if known.
(C) A description of each outreach program and the parameters of that program.
(D) The number of individuals responding to outreach contacts referenced in subparagraph (A), if known.
(E) The number of individuals who ultimately undertook the desired action and filed a return, if known.
(F) The name and amount of state and federal antipoverty tax credits claimed, if known.
(d) For purposes of this section, the following shall apply:
(1) “Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA)” means the free basic income tax return preparation program, for federal and state personal income tax returns, managed by the Internal Revenue Service and operated by Internal Revenue Service partners and trained volunteers.
(2) “CalFile” means the Franchise Tax Board’s free, direct, online program for taxpayers to complete and e-file their state personal income tax returns.
(e) An unauthorized disclosure or use of the information disclosed pursuant to this section is a misdemeanor pursuant to Section 19552.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 737, Sec. 6. (AB 158) Effective September 29, 2022.)