Mandatory Electronic Payments
The California e-pay mandate requires taxpayers to submit all future payments to the California Franchise Tax Board via electronic means if the tax liability on the return exceeds $80,000 or if any payment submitted (via any means) exceeds $20,000. A taxpayer may be subject to penalty on any future payment (regardless of the amount of the future payment) not submitted to FTB via electronic means.
Visit https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/Mandatory_e-Pay.shtml for detailed information.
UltraTax CS designates the taxpayer as subject to the mandate if any of the following conditions are met:
Tax liability on Form 540, line 65 or Form 540NR, line 75 exceeds $80,000
Form 540/540NR payment exceeds $20,000 (regardless of method of payment)
Extension payment exceeds $20,000
Estimate payment exceeds $20,000 (regardless of method of payment)
Schedule X balance due exceeds $20,000
X
is entered in the
Subject to e-pay mandate with originally filed return
field on the CAAmd Screen. UltraTax CS updates this field accordingly when transferring original information to the screen.
1
is entered in the
Requirements met for mandatory electronic payments
field on the CALetter Screen. UltraTax CS proformas a
1
to this field when the requirements were met in the prior year.
Tax liability reflects tax (including other taxes) after credits.
A taxpayer who was subject to the mandate with an originally filed returns remains subject to the mandate if filing an amended return, even if the corrected return does not meet conditions for the mandate.
The mandate is applied based on actual payments remitted rather than actual amounts due. The means of payment is not considered in determining whether a taxpayer is subject to the mandate. Thus, if a taxpayer submits a payment via paper check or via electronic means, the payment could meet the conditions for the mandate.
When the requirements are met for mandatory electronic payments, UltraTax CS suppresses the printing of payment vouchers (for both the return balance due and next year's estimates) and includes text in the filing instructions indicating that the taxpayer is subject to the e-pay mandate. When preparing an extension with an amount due, Form 3519 prints regardless of whether or not the taxpayer is subject to the mandate. Likewise, for an amended return, Schedule X prints even if the amount due with amended return exceeds the threshold. If the taxpayer is subject to the mandate, extension filing instructions, amended filing instructions, and text on Form 3519 direct the taxpayer to make payment electronically.
To allow for customization of filing instructions, transmittal letter variable
1
when the requirements are met or when forced on the CALetter Screen.
Use this section to indicate the taxpayer meets requirements for mandatory electronic payments.
Requirements met for mandatory electronic payments
Enter
1
to indicate taxpayer is subject to the e-pay mandate. UltraTax CS proformas
1
to this field when the requirements were met in the prior year.
When
2
or
3
is entered in this field, UltraTax CS prints any applicable payment vouchers (return balance due and/or next year's estimates) and omits the e-pay mandate paragraph from the filing instructions. Use code
2
to have UltraTax CS determine whether or not the taxpayer is subject to the mandate in . Use code
3
to proforma code
1
to next year's CALetter Screen in order to force the taxpayer to mandated status in .