California Franchise Tax Board

For the U.S. Supreme Court cases, see Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt.

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) administers and collects state personal income tax and corporate franchise and income tax of California. It is part of the California Government Operations Agency.

California Franchise Tax Board

California Franchise Tax Board headquarters building in Sacramento, California
Board overview
Formed	1929 (1929)
Jurisdiction	Government of California
Headquarters	Sacramento, California 38°34′00″N 121°20′46″W
Board executives	Malia Cohen, California State Controller Sally Lieber, Chair of the California State Board of Equalization Joe Stephenshaw, Director of Finance
Parent Agency	California Government Operations Agency
Website	ftb.ca.gov

The board is composed of the California State Controller, the director of the California Department of Finance, and the chair of the California State Board of Equalization. The chief administrative official is the executive officer of the Franchise Tax Board.

History

In 1879, California adopted its state constitution which among many other programs created the State Board of Equalization and the State Controller, which administered all tax programs.^[1]

In 1929, the state legislature created the office of the Franchise Tax Commissioner to administer California's Bank and Corporation Franchise Tax Act.^[1]

In 1950, California abolished the office of the Franchise Tax Commissioner and created the Franchise Tax Board as it exists today.^[1]

The Executive Officers of the Franchise Tax Board have been:

• John J. Campbell (1950–1963)
• Martin Huff (1963–1979)
• Gerald H. Goldberg (1980–2005)
• Selvi Stanislaus (2006–present), the first woman to hold the post

Members

The three members of the Franchise Tax Board are the California State Controller, the Chair of the California State Board of Equalization, and the Director of the California Department of Finance. The State Controller and the Chair of the Board of Equalization are elected officials, while the Director of the Department of Finance is appointed by the Governor of California. The State Controller is elected to a four-year term, and the Director of the Department of Finance serves at the pleasure of the Governor, who is elected to a four-year term. The four members of the State Board of Equalization typically take a one-year turn acting as Chair during their four-year elected term.

Year	Controller	BOE Chair	Director of Finance
1950	Thomas Kuchel (R)	George R. Reilly	James S. Dean[note 1]
1951		James H. Quinn
1952		Jerrold L. Seawell
1953	Robert C. Kirkwood (R)[note 2]	William G. Bonelli
1954		George R. Reilly	John M. Pierce[note 3]
1955		James H. Quinn
1956		Paul R. Leake
1957		Robert E. McDavid
1958		George R. Reilly	John M. Peirce
			T.H. Mugford
1959	Alan Cranston (D)	Paul R. Leake	Bert W. Levitt[note 4]
1960		John W. Lynch	John E. Carr[note 5]
1961			Hale Champion
1962		George R. Reilly
1963		John W. Lynch
1964		Paul R. Leake
1965		John W. Lynch
1966		George R. Reilly
1967	Houston I. Flournoy (R)	Paul R. Leake	Gordon P. Smith[note 6]
1968		Richard Nevins	Caspar W. Weinberger
1969		John W. Lynch
1970		George R. Reilly	Verne Orr
1971		Richard Nevins
1972		John W. Lynch
1973		William M. Bennett
1974
1975	Ken Cory (D)	John W. Lynch	Roy M. Bell[note 7]
1976		William M. Bennett
1977
1978		George R. Reilly
1979		William M. Bennett	Richard Silberman[note 8]
1980		Richard Nevins	Mary Ann Graves
1981		Ernest J. Dronenburg, Jr.
1982		William M. Bennett
1983			Michael Franchetti
1984		Richard Nevins	Jesse Huff
1985		Ernest J. Dronenburg, Jr.
1986		Richard Nevins
1987	Gray Davis (D)	Conway H. Collis
1988		Ernest J. Dronenburg, Jr.
1989		Paul B. Carpenter
1990		Conway Collis
1991		Brad Sherman	Thomas W. Hayes
1992
1993
1994			Russell Gould[note 9]
1995	Kathleen Connell (D)
1996		Johan Klehs	Craig L. Brown
1997		Ernest Dronenburg, Jr.
1998		Dean Andal
1999		Johann Klehs	B. Timothy Gage
2000		Dean Andal
2001		Claude Parrish
2002		John Chiang
2003	Steve Westly (D)	Carole Migden	Steve Peace[note 10]
			Donna Arduin[note 11]
2004
2005		John Chiang	Tom Campbell[note 12]
2006			Michael C. Genest[note 13]
2007	John Chiang (D)	Betty Yee
2008		Judy Chu
2009		Betty Yee
2010			Ana J. Matosantos[note 14] Cynthia Bryant
2011		Jerome Horton	Ana J. Matosantos[note 15]
2012
2013
2014			Michael Cohen[note 16]
2015	Betty Yee (D)
2016		Fiona Ma
2017		Diane Harkey
2018		George Runner
2019		Malia Cohen	Keely Bosler[note 17]
2020		Tony Vazquez
2021
2022		Malia Cohen
2023	Malia Cohen (D)	Tony Vazquez	Joe Stephenshaw
2024		Sally Lieber

Notes

1. James S. Dean resigned, effective October 30, 1953. He was replaced by the appointment of John M. Pierce, effective November 1, 1953.
2. Thomas H. Kuchel resigned, effective January 2, 1953, after his election as a US Senator. He was replaced by the appointment of Robert C. Kirkwood, effective January 6, 1953.
3. John M. Pierce resigned, effective July 14, 1958. He was replaced by the appointment of T.H. Mugford, effective July 15, 1958.
4. Bert W. Levitt resigned, effective July 31, 1959. He was replaced by the appointment of John E. Carr, effective August 1, 1959.
5. John E. Carr resigned, effective June 30, 1961. He was replaced by the appointment of Hale Champion, effective July 1, 1961.
6. Gordon P. Smith resigned, effective February 29, 1968. He was replaced by the appointment of Caspar W. Weinberger, effective March 1, 1968.
7. Roy M. Bell resigned, effective November 30, 1978. He was replaced by the appointment of Richard T. Silberman, effective December 1, 1978.
8. Richard T. Silberman resigned, effective August 20, 1979. He was replaced by the appointment of Mary Ann Graves, effective August 21, 1979.
9. Russell Gould resigned, effective February 23, 1996. He was replaced by the appointment of Craig L. Brown, effective March 4, 1996.
10. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Donna Arduin as director of finance on his first day in office after the 2003 recall election to replace Steve Peace, who was finance director under Governor Gray Davis.
11. Donna Arduin resigned, effective October 18, 2004, to accept an appointment to the board of directors of a private firm and was replaced by the appointment of Tom Campbell, effective December 1, 2004.
12. Tom Campbell resigned, effective November 10, 2005, to return to his post as dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and was replaced by the appointment of Michael C. Genest, effective December 1, 2005.
13. Michael C. Genest resigned effective December 14, 2009 and was replaced by the appointment of Ana J. Matosantos, effective December 31, 2009.
14. Ana J. Matosantos resigned, effective December 7, 2010, to run Governor-elect Jerry Brown's transition team. Cythina Bryant served as interim director of finance from December 7, 2010, to January 3, 2011, when Matosantos returned as director after Brown was sworn in as governor.
15. Ana J. Matosantos resigned, effective September 13, 2013. She was replaced by the appointment of Michael Cohen, effective September 14, 2013.
16. Michael Cohen resigned, effective August 20, 2018. He was replaced by the appointment of Keely Bosler, effective August 21, 2018.
17. Keely Bosler resigned, effective July 31, 2022. She was replaced by the appointment of Joe Stephenshaw, effective August 1, 2022.

Tax programs

Personal income tax

The FTB collects personal state income taxes. The FTB collects income taxes from California residents on their income from all sources.^[2] Meanwhile, non-residents are taxed on their California-based income.^[2] In recent years, the FTB collects more than $50 billion each year in personal income taxes.^[2][3]

Corporate income tax

The FTB levies a franchise tax on businesses for doing business in California.^[2] The FTB's name reflects the fact that it was originally created to collect this tax. The agency's name was left unchanged even after the state created a personal income tax and added it to the FTB's responsibilities.

The corporate tax is imposed on businesses that do business in California and derive income from within California.^[2] Over the past decade, the FTB has collected an average of $9.5 billion per year in corporate income taxes.^[3]

Non-tax programs

The FTB also collects delinquent vehicle registration debt collections on behalf of the California Department of Motor Vehicles and delinquent court ordered debt. The FTB also does financial audits of certain candidates for state office, ballot proposition committees, and lobbyists, according to a random selection process by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

See also

• State income tax
• State tax levels
• Taxation in the United States

References

1. Publication: Franchise Tax Board at a Glance, page 2
2. Publication: Franchise Tax Board at a Glance, page 4
3. State Controller's Office: State Finances 101: State Taxes Archived 2014-07-05 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• California Franchise Tax Board website
• Franchise Tax Board in the California Code of Regulations
• Revenue and Tax Code