The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) last week announced the launch of ReadyReturn, a new pilot program that provides selected taxpayers with an already completed tax return.

"For most people, filling out a tax return is about as fun as a trip to the dentist," said State Controller and FTB Chair Steve Westly. "With ReadyReturn, we've done the hard work for you."

The FTB designed the program to ease the filing burden on taxpayers who file the simplest returns, such as those whose only source of income and tax payments are from wages and withholding. ReadyReturn uses information already provided to the state by employers, such as W-2 data. Taxpayers will review the return for accuracy before submitting it.

The FTB will invite selected taxpayers to participate in the ReadyReturn pilot based on their filing history. These taxpayers will be those whose filing status is single, have no dependents, take the standard deduction, have only one employer, and whose only source of income is wages.

The selected taxpayers will receive their invitation letter and a filled-in tax return by mail. The letter provides instructions on how to file the return as well as how to view and e-file the return via our ReadyReturn Website at www.ftb.ca.gov. Taxpayers may choose to accept the return as presented or make minor modifications and mail it back. Or, taxpayers can go to the FTB's ReadyReturn Website to either e-file it as is or modify the return and e-file it. Taxpayers can also choose to ignore the FTB's invitation and file the conventional way.