Advocacy works: CPA day efforts push two bills through legislature.

• Author: Fox, Jason
• Position: Capitol Beat

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As the Legislature adjourned the 2015-16 session, the impact of CalCPA's advocacy efforts helped spur two bills through the Legislature to the governor's desk, one of which was then signed by the governor.

At CPA Day in January, more than 200 CalCPA members met with California legislators to discuss topics important to the CPA profession and California taxpayers. Two of those topics related to the importance of tax conformity and the role financial literacy plays in the success of Californians.

AB 1775 (Obernolte), signed by the governor Sept. 14, conforms the California tax due dates to the recently changed federal due dates for partnership and C corporation returns. Under the bill, for returns for taxable years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2016, partnership returns will be due March 15, C corp returns will be due April 15 and S corp returns will continue to be due March 15.

These new due dates for federal and state returns are expected to alleviate timing pressures and provide a more logical flow of information for a smoother and more efficient tax preparation process with less estimates, extensions and amended returns.

AB 2546 (Calderon) would incorporate age-appropriate financial literacy instruction in history-social science curricula when it's revised after Jan. 1 for grades K-12. If the governor signs AB 2546, California will be afforded an opportunity to develop an educational plan for teaching financial literacy consistently throughout a child's education.

These small, but important changes are the result of the hard work and dedication of CalCPA members' grassroots efforts. CalCPA would like to thank Assembly-member Obernolte for authoring AB 1775 and Assembly member Calderon for authoring AB 2546, as well as all the CalCPA members who participated in CPA Day.

Tax on Services Proposal Stalls Again

In 2015, Sen. Hertzberg introduced SB 8 to impose a sales tax on services--including those provided by CPAs--to raise billions in new tax revenue for new dedicated spending plans. SB 8 died in the Legislature when it failed to meet legislative deadlines. In 2016, the senator renewed conversations about tax on services when he introduced SB 1445 as a new vehicle for a tax on services proposal.

Neither version of the bill ever contained specifics about how such a complex shift in the tax burden to raise billions in new tax revenue would work. The grassroots efforts of CalCPA members were instrumental in making...