The FTB may contact tax professionals and taxpayers by text message for specific reasons (see list below); however, the FTB does not send text messages to request personal or financial information or account numbers.
One-time text
Individuals can call the FTB’s Liens Program Interactive Voice Response (IVR) at (916) 845-4350 and select the option to receive a text. The text will provide a link to ftb.ca.gov and instructions on how to make a payment.
Ongoing texts
Individuals and tax professional representatives can manage the text message notifications through their MyFTB account. They can choose to receive text messages, change which number the FTB sends texts to, or stop receiving text messages.
Individuals with a MyFTB account can update their profile to receive text message alerts from the FTB if one of the following activities occur on their account:
- A new notice or document is available to view online;
- The FTB approved a new Tax Information Authorization (TIA) relationship or approved a tax professional’s request to renew the TIA;
- A tax professional submitted a Power of Attorney (POA) declaration that needs to be approved or rejected;
- A tax professional with a TIA or POA relationship requested full access to their MyFTB online account pending authorization; and
- An update to contact preferences was made online to add, change, or remove SMS text notifications.
If an individual did not request to be contacted by text message, they should not respond or click on any links. The incident can be reported through the FTB’s Scams page.