Contact: Yating Campbell
Office of Public Affairs
916-309-8488
CDTFA Expands Language Resources for Non-English-Speaking Taxpayers
WHY IT MATTERS: With more than 200 spoken languages, California is home to a vibrant and diverse business community. CDTFA offers in-language resources to help non-English speakers comply with tax laws that affect their businesses.
Sacramento — The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) is committed to providing services to all Californians. To better deliver on that commitment, CDTFA has expanded services for non-English speaking taxpayers and made it easier to navigate our library of resources available in other languages.
“California businesses thrive because of the contributions of entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, who speak various languages,” said CDTFA Director Nick Maduros. “By providing resources in multiple languages, we help ensure that everyone has access to the information they need.”
CDTFA's online “Virtual Agent” chatbot now speaks Spanish, making it possible for taxpayers to get answers to common tax questions in both English and Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Taxpayers can access the Virtual Agent on CDTFA's website by clicking on the Chat button.
The Virtual Agent augments CDTFA's dedicated Spanish-language phone line and a new Spanish live chat where customer service representatives provide one-on-one assistance Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than 20 percent of CDTFA's Customer Service Center representatives speak Spanish and assist taxpayers who call in. CDTFA team members also provide interpretation services in nearly 40 other languages.
In addition, CDTFA's new language pages provide direct links to tax guides, videos, and other resources in the 16 most common languages spoken by CDTFA customers, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. The language pages pull together more than 250 resources that were previously posted throughout our website; they also include instructions on how to translate the website and instructional videos. The new pages can be accessed by clicking the “Translate” button at the top of the CDTFA website.
CDTFA encourages all taxpayers, regardless of their language preference, to take advantage of these language resources and stay informed about taxes and fees.
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) administers California's sales and use, fuel, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis taxes, and other taxes and fees that fund specific state programs. CDTFA-administered programs accounted for more than $96.2 billion last fiscal year, supporting essential local services such as transportation, public safety and health, libraries, schools, social services, and natural resource management programs through the distribution of tax dollars going directly to local communities.