(a) Any check casher engaged in the trade or business of cashing checks that, in the course of that trade or business, cashes checks other than one-party checks, payroll checks, or government checks totaling more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in one transaction or two or more transactions for the same person within the calendar year, shall file an informational return with the Franchise Tax Board with respect to that transaction or transactions.
(b) The return required in subdivision (a) shall be filed no later than 90 days after the end of the calendar year and in the form and manner prescribed by the Franchise Tax Board, and shall, at a minimum, contain both of the following:
(1) The name, address, taxpayer identification number, and any other identifying information of the person presenting the check that the Franchise Tax Board deems necessary.
(2) The amount and date of the transaction or transactions.
(c) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
(1) Except as otherwise provided, “check casher” means a check casher as defined under Section 1789.31 of the Civil Code.
(2) “Checks” includes warrants, drafts, money orders, and other commercial paper serving the same purposes, including payroll checks, government checks, and one-party checks.
(3) “Government check” means a check issued by a federal, state, or local governmental entity and treated as a government check pursuant to Section 1789.35 of the Civil Code for fee-setting purposes.
(4) “Payroll check” means a check for wages subject to withholding pursuant to Section 13020 of the Unemployment Insurance Code and treated as a payroll check pursuant to Section 1789.35 of the Civil Code for fee-setting purposes.
(5) “One-party check” means a check drawn upon the maker’s account and presented by the maker.
(d) With respect to a person who fails to file the report required by this section or fails to include all of the information required to be shown on that report, both of the following apply:
(1) Sections 6721 and 6724 of the Internal Revenue Code, as those sections read on January 1, 2005, apply, except that the “Franchise Tax Board” is substituted for the “secretary” in each place it appears in those sections.
(2) If the failure was willful, the person, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or, in the case of a corporation, not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code, or by both that fine and imprisonment, together with the costs of prosecution.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 571. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)