Secure email

Received secure email help

You received a secure, encrypted email from California Franchise Tax Board.

Select the “Read Secure Message” link in the email to read the message.

See this page on how to open a protected message: How do I open a protected message?

Troubleshooting
Issue What it means and how to resolve
The message you are attempting to retrieve has been revoked by the sender.
  • Please contact the original sender of the message and request for the message to be re-sent.
The message does not load when the “Read Secure Message” link is clicked; the web page does not load.
  • Access to the secure message expires in 90 days of receipt of the message. Please contact the original sender of the message and request for the message to be re-sent.
Account temporarily locked out
  • To unlock your account, close your secure email and wait for 35 minutes.
  • After that time, reopen your secure email and enter your login information.
  • If you do not remember your password, you can reset your password by selecting the Forgot Password link in your secure email.
  • If you are unable to unlock your account or reset your password, send an email to Secure Email Support.
Forgot your password
  • To reset your password, select the Forgot Password link in your secure email.
  • You will be prompted for your security question.
  • Create a new password for your account.
  • If you are unable to reset your password, send an email to Secure Email Support.
Cannot answer security question
Red X icons in the browser
  • If you see red X icons in the browser, that means your email client is blocking images.
  • These images are typically the California Franchise Tax Board's logo or images.
  • You can display the images or ignore them without affecting your ability to read the message.
Unable to open attachment
  • Disable the Pop-up Blocker on your web browser.
  • Pop-up blocker is usually located under Tools on your web browser.
  • You may need to close all web pages you have open and reopen your web browser for changes to take effect.
  • If this does not resolve your issue, disable your firewall or contact your system administrator.
  • If you are using Gmail and cannot open an attachment from FTB, view our Secure Email instructions.
You authenticated successfully, but do not have permission to decrypt this message.
  • You do not have permission to decrypt this message or the administrator has disabled your ability to decrypt the message.
  • Contact your email administrator.
You authenticated successfully, but the decryption key for your message has been deleted.
  • The decryption key for this message is expired or deleted.
  • There was a critical error processing your request.
  • There may be a problem with the system or your request.
  • Send an email to Secure Email Support.
Proofpoint Encryption is temporarily unavailable.
  • The secure email service is temporarily unavailable.
  • Try again at a later time.
  • If issue continues for 30 minutes, send an email to Secure Email Support.
The message you are trying to read is corrupted and cannot be processed.
  • Please contact the FTB representative who sent the message and request they re-send the message to you.
The page you requested was not found.
  • The page you are trying to view in the browser is not available or does not exist.
  • Select the Back button in your browser to return to the previous page, if available, or close the current active window.
There was an error retrieving the key for your message.
  • The key server is temporarily unavailable.
  • Try again at a later time.
  • If this error continues, contact your email administrator.

Features and restrictions

Replying to secure email
  • When you reply to a secure message, your reply will be sent securely.
  • To protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information, only recipients will be able to sign in or open the secure message. If the message is forwarded to other recipients, they will not be able to sign in or open the secure message.
Adding recipients
  • To protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information, we do not permit recipients to add or edit the recipient list when replying to secure messages.
Time out period for replying
  • The time out period while replying to a secure message is 10 minutes.
  • If you do not send your reply within the 10-minute period, you will be required to sign in using your ID and password to recreate the reply and complete the process.
Smart phone compatibility
  • We send secure email messages as an HTML attachment.
  • Depending on the features of your smart phone, some cannot download files and some have the ability to modify HTML files.
Add an attachment to secure email

If you want to add an attachment to your reply, follow these steps:

If you are using a desktop computer:

  • Select Attach.
  • Select Add.
  • Navigate to the file you want to attach and proceed through the prompts to add the file. The name of the attached file displays in the dialog box.

If you are using a mobile device:

  • Tap the three-dot icon (...) in the Subject line.
  • Tap Insert.
  • Tap Choose Files.
  • Navigate to the file you want to attach and proceed through the prompts to add the file. The name of the attached file displays in your reply.
Delete an attachment
  • To delete an attachment from a message, select the X link to the right of the attachment.
Maximum file size
  • The (combined) attachments cannot exceed 20 MB in size.
  • If a larger file size is needed, discuss this with your FTB representative, as secure alternatives may be arranged.