California Code of Regulations › Title 18 - Public Revenues › Division 5 - California Department of Tax and Fee Administration › Chapter 4 - Access to Public Records Maintained by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration › Section 35305 - Public Records Available

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
				Many of the Department's records listed in this subdivision are available on
				the Department's website at
http://www.cdtfa.ca.gov
or in the Open
				Data Portal on the Department's website where they can be downloaded and
				printed. Historical records can be requested by submitting a request to the
				Disclosure Office. Requesters should check the Department's website and Open
				Data Portal for currently available records.
(1) Annual Reports. The Department issues an
				Annual Report that provides information about the revenue collected by the
				Department each fiscal year, includes helpful tables, and describes the
				Department's accomplishments.
(2)
				Taxpayers' Rights Advocate Annual Reports. The Taxpayers' Rights Advocate
				issues an Annual Report that provides information concerning the assistance the
				Taxpayers' Rights Advocate Office has provided to taxpayers and feepayers each
				fiscal year.
(3) Tax and Fee Rates.
				The Department is responsible for the administration of over 30 different taxes
				and fees. To assist the public in identifying the correct tax or fee rate, the
				Department posts tax and fee rates and tools on its website.
(4) Research & Statistics. The Department
				provides research and statistical information on its website, including, but
				not limited to, taxable sales by city and county and by type of business, fuel
				consumption statistics, alcohol consumption statistics, and revenues.
(5) Department Forms. Most of the
				Department's forms are made available for public use on its website and include
				a fill-in function.
(6) Tax and Fee
				Pamphlets and Publications. The Department issues many tax pamphlets and
				publications that provide information on certain tax and fee topics.
(7) Tax Information Bulletins. The Department
				issues quarterly tax information bulletins which provide information to
				taxpayers and feepayers on recent changes or important topics and makes the
				bulletins available on its website.
(8) Notices and Newsletters. The Department
				issues several notices and newsletters, including Special Notices and News for
				Tax Practitioners, to assist taxpayers and feepayers, as well as tax
				practitioners.
(9) Industry Tax and
				Fee Guides. The Department's industry tax and fee guides provide information
				regarding certain tax and fee topics and cover the most common industry issues.
				The guides include links to relevant resources.
(10) Manuals. The Department's Audit Manual
				and Compliance Policy and Procedures Manual (CPPM), which are provided to
				Department employees to assist them in performing their jobs, are made
				available to the public on the Department's website. The Audit Manual provides
				guidance to auditors performing audits. The purpose of the manual is to ensure
				that audits are conducted and reports are prepared in a uniform manner
				consistent with approved tax audit practices. The CPPM contains Department
				policy guidelines, specific standards, and uniform procedures to guide
				compliance staff with taxpayer registration, account maintenance, tax return
				processing, security deposits, account close-outs and clearances, and
				collection functions. The CPPM includes established methods and procedures to
				provide for uniform, effective, and efficient operations.
(11) Proposed Rules and Regulations. The
				Department adopts, amends and repeals regulations to conform to statutory
				requirements or to implement, interpret, or make specific statutes or other
				provisions of law, including court decisions. A list of regulations that are
				currently in the process of being adopted, amended, or repealed is available on
				the Department's website. Current rulemaking documents, including notices,
				text, statements of reasons, statements of explanation, and STD. 400 "Notice
				Publication/Regulation Submission" forms, may also be available on the
				Department's website.
(12) Business
				Taxes Committee Unit Material. The Business Taxes Committee Unit considers
				issues relating to the sales and use tax laws and special taxes and fees laws.
				Depending on the stage of development, the committee materials for a topic may
				include one or more Discussion Papers and a Memorandum to the Director.
				Committee materials may also include Business Taxes Committee Minutes for
				topics considered prior to 2018, and Formal Issue Papers for topics considered
				prior to 2020.
(13) Business Taxes
				Law Guide--Laws, Regulations and Annotations. The Department publishes the
				Business Taxes Law Guide, which is a compilation of all the statutes,
				regulations, court opinions, and Memorandum Opinions that govern the various
				tax and fee programs the Department administers. The Law Guide also contains
				annotations, which are the summaries of the conclusions reached in selected
				legal rulings of counsel applicable to these programs.
(14) Annotation Back-Up Opinions. An
				annotation back-up opinion is a copy of the legal ruling of counsel summarized
				in an annotation. Confidential taxpayer or feepayer information is redacted
				from a back-up opinion prior to disclosure.
(15) Memorandum Opinions. The State Board of
				Equalization (Board) was authorized to conduct hearings regarding sales and use
				tax and special tax and fee appeals before January 1, 2018. Memorandum Opinions
				are precedential decisions adopted by the Board to decide sales and use tax and
				special tax and fee appeals. Memorandum Opinions are published in the Business
				Taxes Law Guide and are available on the Department's website.
(16) Video Tutorials. The Department has
				issued video tutorials on several topics, including filing tax and fee returns,
				logging in to the Department's online system, making tax and fee payments, and
				permit information. The video tutorials are available on the Department's
				website.
(17) CDTFA Organizational
				Chart. The Department publishes an organization chart that displays the
				Department's organizational structure and identifies the person responsible for
				each division, bureau, office, branch, or unit.
(18) Public Complaint Resource Directory. The
				Department publishes a directory called "Where to file California and Federal
				Investigative Complaints" as a reference to assist the public in identifying
				the proper state or federal agency with which to file a complaint regarding a
				suspected violation of the law.