CA AB 398
deadPersonal income tax: Earned Income Tax Credit.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower
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Quick answers
Did CA AB 398 pass?
No. CA AB 398 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process. Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
What is CA AB 398 about?
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law, as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The law provides that the amount of the credit is calculated as a percentage of the eligible individual's earned income and is phased out above a specified amount as income increases, and provides alternative calculation factors under specified circumstances. Existing law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and until and including the taxable year in which the minimum wage is set at $15 per hour, requires the phaseout percentage for eligible individuals to be recalculated by the Franchise Tax Board so that the calculated amount of credit for a taxpayer with an earned income of $30,000 is equal to zero. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, if the amount of credit computed for an eligible individual is less than $355, as specified, would allow the credit for the eligible individual to be $355 instead, except as otherwise specified. By authorizing additional payments from a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure.
Who sponsors CA AB 398?
Ahrens is the primary sponsor of CA AB 398.
Description
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income tax credit against personal income tax and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account, a continuously appropriated fund, for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability to an eligible individual that is equal to that portion of the earned income tax credit allowed by federal law, as determined by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. The law provides that the amount of the credit is calculated as a percentage of the eligible individual's earned income and is phased out above a specified amount as income increases, and provides alternative calculation factors under specified circumstances. Existing law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and until and including the taxable year in which the minimum wage is set at $15 per hour, requires the phaseout percentage for eligible individuals to be recalculated by the Franchise Tax Board so that the calculated amount of credit for a taxpayer with an earned income of $30,000 is equal to zero. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, if the amount of credit computed for an eligible individual is less than $355, as specified, would allow the credit for the eligible individual to be $355 instead, except as otherwise specified. By authorizing additional payments from a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure.
- Introduced
- —
- Latest action
- 2026-02-02 — From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
- Bill type
- bill,appropriation
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Ahrensauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-02-02
From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
committee-passage,failure
2026-01-31
Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution.
failure
2025-05-23
In committee: Held under submission.
2025-05-21
Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1627.)
2025-05-21
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
referral-committee
2025-05-14
In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
2025-04-29
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (April 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-03-10
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to REV. & TAX. suspense file.
referral-committee
2025-02-18
Referred to Com. on REV. & TAX.
referral-committee
2025-02-05
From printer. May be heard in committee March 7.
2025-02-04
Read first time. To print.
reading-1
Versions
Documents
- application/pdf
- text/html
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
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- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
Votes
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-04-28 · pass · 5-1
Member-level votes (7)
- Quirk-Silva: yes
- McKinnor: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Bains: yes
- Gipson: yes
- DeMaio: no
- Ta: other
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
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