(a) It is a misdemeanor for any person, including an individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, or joint venture, or any employee or agent thereof, to disclose any information obtained in the business of preparing federal or state income tax returns or assisting taxpayers in preparing those returns, including any instance in which this information is obtained through an electronic medium, unless the disclosure is within any of the following:

1. (1) Consented to in writing by the taxpayer in a separate document that states to whom the disclosure will be made and how the information will be used. If the taxpayer agrees, this separate consent document may be in the form of an electronic record, executed by an electronic signature as provided by Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) of Part 2 of Division 3 of the Civil Code.
2. (2) Expressly authorized by state or federal law.
3. (3) Necessary to the preparation of the return.
4. (4) Pursuant to court order.

(b) For the purposes of this section, a person is engaged in the business of preparing federal or state income tax returns or assisting taxpayers in preparing those returns if the person does any of the following:

1. (1) Advertises, or gives publicity to the effect that the person prepares or assists others in the preparation of state or federal income tax returns.
2. (2) Prepares or assists others in the preparation of state or federal income tax returns for compensation.
3. (3) Files a state or federal income tax return by electronic transmittal of return data directly to the Franchise Tax Board or to the Internal Revenue Service.