California Public Records Act

General Requirements

The Public Records Act (PRA) gives you access to public records we maintain unless they’re exempt from disclosure by law. This may include written or electronic information.

Government Code 7920 et seq.

Exemptions

We are exempt from disclosing certain public records or portions of public records.

Here is a partial list of exempt documents:

• Personnel, medical, or similar files for FTB employees
• Tests questions and scoring keys for employment exams
• Preliminary drafts of documents not retained by us
• Records pertaining to pending litigation

What You Can Request

By law, we may provide access to our public records that are not exempt, such as:

• Limited Business Entity (BE) information, including, but not limited to:
  • Exact corporate title
  • Filing date of last tax return
  • Total balance due
• Exemption Application (FTB 3500) for business entities that were granted exempt status

Confidential information regarding a specific business entity or individual may be released as follows:

• To an officer of the business entity or that entity’s authorized representative pursuant to a PRA request.
• To the individual to whom the information pertains or that individual’s authorized representative pursuant to an IPA request.

How To Request Records

Submit your request for public records to our Disclosure Office by email, fax, mail :

Email (preferred)

FTBDisclosureOffice@ftb.ca.gov

Fax

916-845-4849

Mail

Franchise Tax Board
Disclosure Office, MS A-181
PO Box 1468
Sacramento CA 95812-1468

Please make sure your request contains the following information:

• The entity’s name
• The entity’s account number (FEIN, CCN, or FTB ID).
• Your mailing address
• A description of the records you are requesting, including the specific tax year(s)
• Signature

What To Expect

Generally, within 10 days, we’ll determine whether we have the information you requested and if we can disclose it to you.

We generally will begin providing the records to you within 30 days after:

• we notify you whether we have records we can disclose to you or
• you have paid any duplication fees that apply, which is later

The time for production of the records depends on:

• the time needed to identify and gather the records
• the volume of the request
• whether any computer services are needed to produce a copy of the record

We may charge 10 cents per page whether we provide paper or electronic copies. Please review the Duplication Fees webpage for more information.

You may also request to view public records in person. Contact us to schedule an appointment, so that we can prepare the records for you.