Cal. Elections Code - ELEC 5. — PART 5. INCOME TAX RETURN DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS [8900. - 8903.] | Elections Code - ELEC — California

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 8900. Section 8900.

The Legislature finds and declares that the State of California has a strong interest in ensuring that its voters make informed, educated choices in the voting booth. To this end, the state has mandated that extensive amounts of information be provided to voters, including county and state voter information guides. The Legislature also finds and declares that the income tax returns of candidates for Governor provide voters with essential information regarding the candidate’s potential conflicts of interest, business dealings, financial status, and charitable donations. The information in tax returns therefore helps voters to make a more informed decision. The Legislature further finds and declares that as one of the largest centers of economic activity in the world, the State of California has a special interest in state elected officials refraining from corrupt or self-enriching behaviors while in office. The people of California can better estimate the risks of any given candidate for Governor engaging in corruption or the appearance of corruption if they have access to candidates’ tax returns. Finally, the State of California has an interest in ensuring that any violations of statutory prohibitions on behavior such as insider trading are detected and punished. Mandated disclosure of the tax returns of candidates for Governor will enable enforcement of the laws against whichever candidates are elected to those offices. The Legislature finds and declares that compliance costs with this requirement will be trivial.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 8901. Section 8901.

For the purposes of this part, “income tax return” means any tax or information return, declaration of estimated tax, or claim for refund required by, or provided for or permitted under, the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, and that is filed on behalf of, or with respect to, any person, and any amendment or supplement thereto, including supporting schedules, attachments, or lists that are supplemental to, or part of, the return so filed. For the purposes of this part, an “income tax return” does not include transcripts from the Internal Revenue Service nor accountant notes.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 8902. Section 8902.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the name of a candidate for Governor shall not be printed on a ballot, unless the candidate, at least 88 days before the election or, in the case of a recall election, at least 60 days before the recall election, files with the Secretary of State copies of every income tax return the candidate filed with the Internal Revenue Service in the five most recent taxable years, in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section 8903. (b) If the candidate has not filed the candidate’s income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service for the tax year immediately preceding the election, the candidate shall submit a copy of the income tax return to the Secretary of State within five days of filing the return with the Internal Revenue Service. (c) The requirement in subdivision (a) does not apply to any year in which the candidate was not required to file the candidate’s income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 8903. Section 8903.

(a) The candidate shall submit the following to the Secretary of State: (1) (A) Two copies of each tax return required by Section 8902. One copy of each tax return shall be identical to the version submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, without redactions, and shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to this section. One copy shall be identical to the version submitted to the Internal Revenue Service but shall be redacted pursuant to this paragraph. The tax returns shall be provided to the Secretary of State in hard-copy form not later than 5 p.m. on the 88th day prior to the election or, in the case of a recall election, not later than 5 p.m. on the 60th day prior to the recall election. (B) The candidate shall redact the following information from the redacted copy of each tax return: (i) Social security numbers. (ii) Home address. (iii) Telephone number. (iv) Email address. (v) Medical information. (vi) Bank account numbers and routing numbers. (vii) Internal Revenue Service personal identification number (PIN). (C) The candidate may also redact the following information from the redacted copy of each tax return: (i) Names of dependent minors. (ii) Employer identification number. (iii) Business addresses. (iv) Preparer or accountant tax identification number, client number, address, telephone number, and email address of paid tax return preparers or accountants. (2) A written consent form, signed by the candidate, granting the Secretary of State permission to publicly release a version of the candidate’s tax returns redacted pursuant to this section. The Secretary of State shall prepare a standard consent form consistent with this paragraph. (b) The Secretary of State shall review the redacted copy of each tax return submitted by the candidate to ensure that the redactions comply with subdivision (a). If the Secretary of State determines that the candidate has redacted information other than that permitted by subdivision (a), or failed to redact information required to be redacted by subdivision (a), the Secretary of State shall notify the candidate of any deficiencies. The candidate shall submit corrected hard copies of the tax return no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 78th day prior to the election or, in the case of a recall election, not later than 5 p.m. on the 57th day prior to the recall election. If the corrected hard copies are not timely submitted, the candidate shall not be qualified to have their name placed on the ballot of the election. (c) (1) At the time the Secretary of State issues the certified list of candidates for the election in accordance with Section 8120, the Secretary of State shall make the redacted copies of the tax returns available to the public on the Secretary of State’s internet website. Except as provided by paragraph (2), the Secretary of State shall make public the redacted copies of the tax returns submitted by the candidate pursuant to subdivision (a). (2) If the candidate is required to submit a corrected copy of a tax return pursuant to subdivision (b), the Secretary of State shall make public that corrected copy. (3) The redacted tax returns shall be continuously posted until such time as the official canvass is completed for the election at which a candidate is elected to the office, except that the tax returns of a candidate who participated in a primary election and who was not nominated to participate in the general election need only be posted until the official canvass for the primary election is completed. (4) The Secretary of State shall retain the paper copies of the submitted tax returns until the completion of the official canvass of the election at which a candidate is elected to the office. Thereafter, the paper copies of the submitted tax returns shall be destroyed as soon as practicable, unless the Secretary of State has received a court order, or a lawful written request from a state or federal governmental agency, directing the Secretary of State to preserve the submitted tax returns.