Nonminor dependents: tax guidance.

The deadline for the department to issue guidance to county welfare and juvenile probation departments was extended from July 1, 2026 to July 30, 2026.

The stated purpose of the state guidance changed from providing 'information about practices for supporting nonminor dependents in filing' taxes to providing 'information to support best practices for encouraging nonminor dependents to file' taxes, shifting emphasis from direct assistance to awareness and encouragement.

Guidance content item (A) changed from a general 'description of the foster youth tax credit' to specifically requiring 'eligibility requirements' and 'the maximum foster youth tax credit available,' making the guidance more prescriptive about what must be communicated.

Guidance content item (D) changed from 'opportunities to partner with local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites' to 'resources from the Internal Revenue Service internet website for identifying local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance providers,' directing counties to use a specific IRS web resource rather than general partnership opportunities.

Guidance content item (E) was broadened from requiring 'hosting workshops for foster youth' to including 'any promising strategies developed by individual counties to communicate with the eligible population about resources available to assist them with tax filing,' giving counties more flexibility in their approach.

Guidance content item (F) was changed from requiring 'hosting workshops through the Independent Living Program or community-based organizations to assist foster youth with filing their taxes' to simply 'identification of resources available through nonprofit organizations for improving knowledge about the foster youth tax credit,' removing the explicit workshop-hosting mandate.

Guidance content item (G) was narrowed from 'resources available from stakeholders or state agencies' to 'resources available through other state agencies,' removing the reference to private stakeholders.

The annual mailing requirement for other tax credits changed from stating 'the availability of other tax credits' to 'an advisement that the nonminor dependent may be eligible for other tax credits,' shifting from a factual statement to a personalized eligibility notice.

The mailing content about VITA sites was updated to reference 'internet websites certified by the Internal Revenue Service' and added a cross-reference to workshops described in the guidance section, integrating the two requirements more closely.

The bill text was reformatted from an official chaptered document layout (with page numbers, centered headers, and traditional legislative formatting) to a web page rendering that includes site navigation elements such as menus, search fields, and links. No changes were made to the substantive legal provisions.

Removed Senate and Assembly passage dates, Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of Assembly signature lines, and the Governor's receipt date placeholder.

Added 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header, Chapter 230 designation, and the recorded approval/filing date of October 1, 2025.

Page numbers shifted from 93 to 92 and page headers changed from 'SB 624' to 'Ch. 230' to reflect the chaptered law format.

Subsection structure of Section 10618.7 was reorganized: the short title (FOSTER Act) is now subsection (a), the department guidance requirement moved from (a)(1) to (b)(1), and the county annual mailing requirement moved from (b) to (c). This fixes a prior drafting error where subsection (a) was used for both the short title and the guidance requirement.

Cross-reference in the guidance content list (paragraph B) was updated from 'subdivision (b)' to 'subdivision (c)' to reflect the renumbered mailing requirement provision.

The bill is now formally named the Foster Outreach and Support for Tax Education Readiness (FOSTER) Act, giving it a citable short title.

The annual mailing window for tax information to nonminor dependents was extended one month earlier, from December 1 through January 31 to November 1 through January 31, giving counties more time to complete mailings before the tax filing season.

Subdivisions were renumbered: the guidance requirement moved to subdivision (b) and the mailing requirement moved to subdivision (c), with a new subdivision (a) added for the FOSTER Act short title.

Added Senators Cortese and Wahab as Senate coauthors and Assembly Members Bryan and Quirk-Silva as Assembly coauthors, broadening legislative sponsorship.

Changed 'No later than July 1, 2026' to 'By no later than July 1, 2026' in both the digest and Section 10618.7(a)(1), a minor grammatical clarification with no change to the actual deadline.

The annual mailing of tax filing and foster youth tax credit information to nonminor dependents now must occur between November 1 and January 31 (previously December 1 to January 31), extending the window by one month earlier.

Senator Weber Pierson was added as a coauthor of the bill.

The phrase 'volunteer income tax assistance sites' was corrected to 'Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites' to properly capitalize the name of the IRS-certified program (VITA).