Daly City Municipal Code Ch. 5.04 General Provisions

For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

A. "Business" means any profession, or occupation and all and every kind of calling, including commercial, mercantile, industrial, trade, or industry, whether or not carried on for profit.

B. "City" means the city of Daly City, a municipal corporation of the state in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged or reincorporated form.

C. "Fixed place of business" means the premises occupied for the particular purpose of conducting the business thereat, and regularly kept open for that purpose with a competent person in attendance for the purpose of attending to such business.

D. "Gross receipts" means the total of amounts actually received or receivable from sales and the total amounts actually received or receivable for the performance of any act or service, of whatever nature it may be, for which a charge is made or credit allowed, whether or not such act or service is done as a part of or in connection with the sale of materials, goods, wares or merchandise. Included in "gross receipts" shall be all receipts, cash, credits and property of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, interest paid or payable, or losses or other expenses whatsoever. Excluded from gross receipts shall be the following:

1. Cash discounts allowed and taken on sales;

2. Credit allowed on property accepted as part of the purchase price and which property may later be sold;

3. Any tax required by law to be included in or added to the purchase price and collected from the consumer or purchaser;

4. Such part of the sale price of property returned by purchasers upon rescission of the contract of sale as is refunded either in cash or by credit;

5. Amounts collected for others where the business is acting as an agent or trustee to the extent that such amounts are paid to those for whom collected; provided, that the agent or trustee has furnished the director of finance with the names and addresses of the others and the amounts paid to them;

6. That portion of the receipts of a general contractor which represent payments to subcontractors; provided, that such subcontractors are licensed under this article; and provided, further, that the general contractor furnishes the director of finance with the names and addresses of the subcontractors and the amounts paid each subcontractor;

7. Receipts of refundable deposits, except that refundable deposits forfeited and taken into income of the business shall not be excluded;

8. As to a real estate agent or broker, the sales price of real estate sold for the account of others, except that portion which represents commission or other income to the agent or broker;

9. As to a retail gasoline dealer, a portion of his receipts from the sale of motor vehicle fuels equal to the motor vehicle fuel license tax imposed by and previously paid under the provisions of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the state;

10. As to a retail gasoline dealer, the special motor fuel tax imposed by Section 4041 of Title 26 of the United States Code, if paid by the dealer or collected by him from the consumer or purchaser.

E. "Persons" mean all domestic and foreign corporations, associations, syndicates, joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind, clubs, Massachusetts, business or common law trusts, societies and individuals transacting and carrying on any business in the city, other than an employee.

F. "Sale" means the transfer, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, of title to property for consideration; the serving, supplying or furnishing for consideration of any property. A transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred and the seller retains the title as security for the payment of the price shall likewise be deemed a sale. The foregoing definitions shall not be deemed to exclude any transaction which is or which, in effect, results in a sale within the contemplation of law.

G. "Solicitor" means any person who engages in the business of going from house to house, place to place or along the streets within the city, selling or taking orders for or offering to sell or take orders for goods, wares, merchandise or other things of value for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future.

H. "Sworn statement" means an affidavit sworn to before a person authorized to take oaths, or a declaration or certification made under penalty of perjury.

(Ord. 1311 § 1, 2004; Ord. 1178 § 1, 1993; prior code § 15-1)

Persons required to pay a license tax for transacting and carrying on any business under this article of this title shall not be relieved from the payment of any license tax for the privilege of doing such business required under any other ordinance or article of this title, and shall remain subject to the regulatory provisions of other ordinances or articles.

(Prior code § 15-2)

There are imposed upon businesses, trades, professions, callings and occupations, license taxes in the amounts hereinafter prescribed. It shall be unlawful for any person to transact and carry on any business, trade, profession, calling or occupation in the city without first having procured a license from the city to do so and paying the tax hereinafter prescribed or without complying with any and all applicable provisions of this article.

All businesses operating in the city, whether or not such business has a fixed location within the city, shall, upon request, provide the director of finance with the names and addresses of all employees working for that business, as well as the names and addresses of all brokers, doctors or other independent contractors or agents working for, in conjunction with, or out of the same location as the business.

Any business operating in the city that is exempt from obtaining a business license, whether or not that business has a fixed location within the city, shall, upon request, provide the director of finance with the names and addresses of all brokers, doctors or other independent contractors or agents working for, in conjunction with or out of the same location as the exempt business.

This section shall not be construed to require any person to obtain a license prior to doing business within the city if such requirement conflicts with applicable statutes of the United States or of the state. Persons not so required to obtain a license prior to doing business within the city nevertheless shall be liable for payment of the tax imposed by this article until proof of such exemption is provided to the director of finance.

(Ord. 1146 § 1, 1991: prior code § 15-3)

A separate license must be obtained for each branch establishment or location of the business transacted and carried on and for each separate type of business at the same location, and each license shall authorize the licensee to transact and carry on only the business licensed thereby at the location or in the manner designated in such license; provided, that warehouses and distributing plants used in connection with and incidental to a business licensed under the provisions of this article shall not be deemed to be separate places of business or branch establishments; and provided, further, that any person conducting two or more types of businesses at the same location and under the same management, but which businesses use a single set or integrated set of books and records, shall pay only one tax calculated under the schedule.

(Prior code § 15-4)

When any person shall, by use of signs, circulars, cards, telephone book or newspapers, advertise, or in any other way hold out or represent that he is in business in the city, or when any person holds an active license or permit issued by a governmental agency indicating that he is in business in the city, and such person fails to deny by a sworn statement given to the director of finance that he is not conducting a business in the city, after being requested to do so by the director of finance, then these facts shall be considered prima facie evidence that he is conducting a business in the city.

(Ord. 1311 § 2, 2004: prior code § 15-5)

None of the license taxes provided for by this article shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce or violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitutions of the United States and the state.

In any case where a license tax is believed by a licensee or applicant for a license to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce or violate such constitutional clauses, he may apply to the director of finance for an adjustment of the tax. Such application may be made before, at or within six months after payment of the prescribed license tax. The applicant shall, by sworn statement and supporting testimony, show the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and such other information as the director of finance may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of such undue burden or violation. The director of finance shall then conduct an investigation, and, after having first obtained the written approval of the city attorney, shall fix as the license tax for the applicant, an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or if the license tax has already been paid, shall order a refund of the amount over and above the license tax so fixed.

(Ord. 1311 § 3, 2004: prior code § 15-6)

The director of finance may make rules and regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this article, as may be necessary or desirable to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this article.

(Prior code § 15-26)