AB 18

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of certain fees and surcharges. This bill, on and after January 1, 2017, would impose a surtax on every individual for each purchase of a cocktail from an on-sale licensee for consumption or other use on the licensed, in-state premises of that on-sale licensee at the rate of $0.05 per cocktail, as defined. This bill would require the surtax rate to be adjusted annually, as specified. This bill would require an on-sale licensee to separately state and collect the surtax from an individual, as specified. This bill would require the State Board of Equalization to administer and collect the surtax in accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an on-sale licensee to register with the board, to prepare and file with the board returns using electronic media in the form prescribed by the board, containing specified information, and to remit the fee quarterly. The bill would require that all revenues, less refunds, be remitted to the board and deposited in the Healthy California Special Fund for the funding of, among other things, developmental disability services, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (2) The Sales and Use Tax Law imposes a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for the storage, use, or other consumption in this state measured by sales price. That law defines the terms "gross receipts" and "sales price." This bill would exclude from "gross receipts" subject to tax the amount of surtax imposed by this bill. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws. Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.