California Code, Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 21013

(a)(1) Every taxpayer is entitled to be reimbursed for any reasonable fees and expenses related to an appeal before the State Board of Equalization if all of the following conditions are met:

(2) For purposes of this section:

(b)(1) To determine whether the Franchise Tax Board staff has been unreasonable, the State Board of Equalization shall consider whether the Franchise Tax Board has established that its position in the appeal was substantially justified.

(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the position of the Franchise Tax Board shall be presumed not to be substantially justified if its staff did not follow its applicable published guidance in the appeal. This presumption may be rebutted.

(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the term “applicable published guidance” means either of the following:

(1) Fees and expenses incurred after the date of a notice ofproposed deficiency assessment or jeopardy assessment, ora denial ofa claim for refund.

(2) If the State Board of Equalization finds that the Franchise Tax Board staff was unreasonable with respect to certain issues but reasonable with respect to other issues, the amount of reimbursed fees and expenses shall be limited to those which relate to the issues where the Franchise Tax Board staff was unreasonable.