republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20172018/ab-3143.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tax preparers."
description: "Existing law regulates tax preparers and states that it is the intent of the provisions governing the regulation of tax preparers to enable consumers to easily identify credible tax preparers who are bonded and registered, to ensure tax preparers receive adequate education and treat confidential information appropriately, to prohibit tax preparers from making fraudulent, untrue, or misleading representations, and to provide for the California Tax Education Council (council) to register tax preparers and ensure that they meet all necessary requirements. Existing law, for the purposes of these provisions, defines client to mean an individual for whom a tax preparer performs or agrees to perform tax preparation services, and defines the council as a single nonprofit organization exempt from taxation and made up of representatives from specified entities. Existing law requires the council to issue a registration to any applicant who provides satisfactory evidence that he or she meets specified requirements and who complies with the rules established by the council. Existing law requires a tax preparer to provide to the customer in writing specified information prior to rendering any tax preparation services. Except as specified, a violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2019."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 3143"
citation: "California AB 3143 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Tax preparers."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Low"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 25
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2018-02-16"
last_action: "2018-09-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b41c97e7-7670-4585-b7a6-5db34b73e5cc"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143"
source_hash: "7c3bca73e592b47287d49bc553a31db5a725d1049cc378191aa70d6649d4ae46"
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 AB 3143 (20172018) — Tax preparers.

Existing law regulates tax preparers and states that it is the intent of the provisions governing the regulation of tax preparers to enable consumers to easily identify credible tax preparers who are bonded and registered, to ensure tax preparers receive adequate education and treat confidential information appropriately, to prohibit tax preparers from making fraudulent, untrue, or misleading representations, and to provide for the California Tax Education Council (council) to register tax preparers and ensure that they meet all necessary requirements. Existing law, for the purposes of these provisions, defines client to mean an individual for whom a tax preparer performs or agrees to perform tax preparation services, and defines the council as a single nonprofit organization exempt from taxation and made up of representatives from specified entities. Existing law requires the council to issue a registration to any applicant who provides satisfactory evidence that he or she meets specified requirements and who complies with the rules established by the council. Existing law requires a tax preparer to provide to the customer in writing specified information prior to rendering any tax preparation services. Except as specified, a violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2019.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/16/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143&version=20170AB314399INT)
2. **06/21/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143&version=20170AB314398AMD)
3. **08/21/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143&version=20170AB314397AMD)
4. **09/20/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143&version=20170AB314395CHP)
5. **AB3143** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143)
6. **09/04/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB3143&version=20170AB314396ENR)

## Votes

- AB 3143 B. & P. Consent Calendar Second Day — **73–0** (pass) · lower
- With recommendation: That Senate amendments be concurred in. — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **15–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB3143 Low et al. By Hill — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 3143 LOW Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **80–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Low — primary (person)
- Hill — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-02-16** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2018-02-17** From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.
- **2018-03-12** Referred to Com. on B. & P. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-05-09** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 9). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-05-10** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-05-17** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 5218.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-05-17** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2018-05-30** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-21** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B., P. & E.D. `amendment-passage, referral-committee, reading-2, reading-1, amendment-introduction`
- **2018-06-26** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-08-06** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2018-08-17** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 16). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-08-17** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-21** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2018-08-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5810.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-27** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 29 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2018-08-28** Re-referred to Com. on B. & P. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2. `referral-committee`
- **2018-08-28** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 6729.)
- **2018-08-29** From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 29). `committee-passage`
- **2018-08-30** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 6984.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2018-09-11** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2018-09-20** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-09-20** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 597, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b41c97e7-7670-4585-b7a6-5db34b73e5cc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).