(a) The Franchise Tax Board shall prescribe regulations providing standards for determining which returns shall be filed on magnetic media or in other machine-readable form. The Franchise Tax Board may not require returns of any tax imposed by Part 10 (commencing with Section 17001) on estates and trusts to be other than on paper forms supplied by the Franchise Tax Board. In prescribing those regulations, the Franchise Tax Board shall take into account, among other relevant factors, the ability of the taxpayer to comply at a reasonable cost with that filing requirement.
(b) (1) Subdivision (a) is applicable only to taxpayers required to file returns on magnetic media or in other machine-readable form pursuant to Section 6011(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to regulations requiring returns on magnetic media, and the regulations adopted thereto.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the last sentence of Section 6011(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, does not apply.
(3) In addition, the regulations under subdivision (a) shall not require that returns filed on magnetic media or in other machine-readable form contain more information than is required to be included in similar returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service under Section 6011(e) of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations adopted thereto.
(c) In lieu of the magnetic media or other machine-readable form returns required by this section, a copy of the similar magnetic media or other machine-readable form returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to Section 6011(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, and the regulations adopted thereto, may be filed with the Franchise Tax Board.
(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 228, Sec. 48. Effective August 11, 2003.)