California Assembly Bill AB1175 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1175AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fletcher (Coauthor: Assembly Member Perea) FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act to add Section 19304  to the  Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1175, as amended, Fletcher. Franchise Tax Board: refunds: direct deposit: 529 savings account.   taxpayer form instructions.  Existing law requires the Franchise Tax Board to make a refund to a taxpayer of any overpayment of taxes. Existing law  requires the Franchise Tax Board to revise the returns to allow a taxpayer to designate financial institutions for direct deposit of a refund   authorizes taxpayers to contribute their refunds for the support of specified funds or accounts  . This bill would require  the Franchise Tax Board to revise returns to allow a taxpayer to explicitly designate a 529 college savings account for direct deposit of the taxpayer's refund. This bill would also require  the Franchise Tax Board to revise taxpayer form instructions to include the ability of a taxpayer to directly deposit a portion of  the   a  refund into the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust, as defined. This bill would require the Scholarshare Investment Board to provide the Franchise Tax Board with a description of that trust program before a date specified by the Franchise Tax Board, and that the revisions be completed in the most cost-effective manner. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 19304 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:  19304. (a) The Franchise Tax Board shall revise returns required to be filed, pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 18501) of Chapter 2 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 to allow a taxpayer, who is an individual, to explicitly designate a 529 college savings account, as provided in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, for direct deposit of the taxpayer's refund. (b)   19304.   (a)    The Franchise Tax Board shall revise taxpayer form instructions to include information about split refund options, including, but not limited to, the ability of a taxpayer to directly deposit a portion of the refund into the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust.  (c)   (b)  The Scholarshare Investment Board shall provide the Franchise Tax Board with a description of the Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust on or before a specified date provided by the Franchise Tax Board.  The length of the description shall be five lines or less.   (d)   (c)  The Franchise Tax Board shall revise  the return and  the taxpayer form instruction in the most cost-effective manner. For purposes of the return, cost-effective manner means, but is not limited to, adding the 529 college savings account to the return as a type of account to which a direct deposit is made, while utilizing the current form and manner for purposes of the routing number, account number, and amount of the direct deposit designation.   (e)   (d)  For purposes of this section, "Golden State Scholarshare College Savings Trust" has the meaning set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 69980 of the Education Code.