---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tax preparers: exemptions."
description: "Existing law establishes the California Board of Accountancy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to license and regulate accountants in this state."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "SB 788"
citation: "California SB 788 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Taxpreparers", "exemptions"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Niello"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-02-21"
last_action: "2025-10-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/865941c7-4fe1-4941-8b2b-84dc0cfbf2d1"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788"
source_hash: "0fbe5ea6b105d39ea25d66ce4d620aece27e89b30f9f0ea9bfceb4384684484d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 788 (20252026) — Tax preparers: exemptions.

Existing law establishes the California Board of Accountancy, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and requires the board to license and regulate accountants in this state.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/21/25 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788&version=20250SB78899INT)
2. **03/24/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788&version=20250SB78898AMD)
3. **04/30/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788&version=20250SB78897AMD)
4. **10/03/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788&version=20250SB78895CHP)
5. **SB788** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788)
6. **09/08/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB788&version=20250SB78896ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **11–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 788 Niello Senate Third Reading By Krell — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **16–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Niello — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-02-21** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2025-02-24** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.
- **2025-02-24** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2025-03-12** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-24** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-04-02** Re-referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-03** Set for hearing April 28.
- **2025-04-29** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 917.) (April 28). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-30** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-05-02** Set for hearing May 12.
- **2025-05-12** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2025-05-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-06-03** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1441.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-06-04** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2025-06-09** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2025-07-09** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (July 9). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-07-10** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-04** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2904.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-04** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2025-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2025-10-03** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-03** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 329, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/865941c7-4fe1-4941-8b2b-84dc0cfbf2d1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).