CA Legislature Approves McNerney’s Bill to Make Tax Filing Easier

The California Legislature has approved Sen. Jerry McNerney’s SB 711, which will make it easier for taxpayers to file their taxes by aligning numerous state requirements with federal requirements for the first time in a decade.

“Filing taxes can be overly complicated and confusing, especially when state and federal tax laws treat the same issues in different or opposite ways,” said Sen. McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who is chair of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. “SB 711 will makes it easier for people and businesses to file taxes by updating California’s Revenue and Taxation Code to changes made to the Internal Revenue Code over the past 10 years.”

SB 711 won unanimous approval in the state Senate today, after it passed the Assembly on a vote of 58-1. The legislation now goes to the governor’s desk for consideration.

California has not enacted a comprehensive tax conformity law, aligning state tax law with federal law, since 2015. As a result, there are now more than 1,000 substantive differences between federal and state tax law.

SB 711 is a consensus measure, and intends to implement tax policy changes that are fiscally responsible and avoid policy disputes. The bill advances the state’s tax conformity date to Jan. 1, 2025, so it does not conform to any changes from the federal mega bill recently enacted by Congress.

Among the numerous tax conformity changes in SB 711, the bill will make it easier to file taxes for those with IRA retirement plans, for first responders’ retirement and disability payments, and for divorced couples. The tax changes made by SB 711 are also expected to result in a modest increase in state revenues.

SB 711 was the product of years of painstaking work by the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.

Sen. Jerry McNerney’s 5th Senate District includes all of San Joaquin County and Alameda County’s Tri-Valley.