Fowler Municipal Code Ch. 5 Sales and Use Taxes

This chapter shall be known as the "Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law of the City of Fowler".

(Ord. 444 § 1)

The Council hereby declares that the provisions of this chapter are adopted to achieve the following, among other, purposes and directs that the provisions of this chapter be interpreted in order to accomplish those purposes:

(a) To adopt a sales and use tax law which complies with the requirements and limitations set forth in Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State;

(b) To adopt a sales and use tax law which incorporates provisions identical to those of the Sales and Use Tax Law of the State insofar as those provisions are not inconsistent with the requirements and limitations set forth in Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State;

(c) To adopt a sales and use tax law which imposes a tax and provides a measure therefor that can be administered and collected by the State Board of Equalization in a manner that adapts itself as fully as practicable to, and requires the least possible deviation from, the existing statutory and administrative procedures followed by the State Board of Equalization in administering and collecting the sales and use taxes of the State; and

(d) To adopt a sales and use tax law which can be administered in a manner that will minimize, to the degree possible consistent with the provisions of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, the cost of collecting City sales and use taxes and at the same time minimize the burden of recordkeeping upon persons subject to taxation under the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 444 § 2; Ord. 469 § 1)

The provisions of this chapter shall become operative on July 1, 1959, and prior thereto the City shall contract with the State Board of Equalization to perform all the functions incident to the administration and operation of this sales and use tax law; provided, however, if the City shall not have contracted with the State Board of Equalization prior to said operative date, the provisions of this chapter shall not be operative until the first day of the first calendar quarter following the execution of such a contract by the City and by the State Board of Equalization; and provided, further, the provisions of this chapter shall not become operative prior to the operative date of the Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law of the County.

(Ord. 444 § 3)

(a) (1)

For the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail, a tax is hereby imposed upon all retailers in the City at the rate of zero point nine hundred fifty thousandths of one percent (0.9500%) of the gross receipts of the retailer from the sale of all tangible personal property sold at retail in the City on and after July 1, 2004.

(2) For the purposes of this chapter, all retail sales are consummated at the place of business of the retailer unless the tangible personal property sold is delivered by the retailer or his agent to an out-of-State destination or to a common carrier for delivery to an out-of-State destination. The gross receipts from such sales shall include delivery charges, when such charges are subject to the State sales and use tax, regardless of the place to which delivery is made. In the event a retailer has no permanent place of business in the State or has more than one place of business, the place or places at which the retail sales are consummated shall be determined under rules and regulations to be prescribed and adopted by the State Board of Equalization.

(b) (1)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, and except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, all of the provisions of Part 1 of Division 2 of said Code applicable to sales taxes are adopted and made a part of this chapter as though fully set forth in this chapter.

(2) Wherever, and to the extent that, in Part 1 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, the State is named or referred to as the taxing agency, the name of the City shall be substituted therefor. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to require the substitution of the name of the City for the word "State" when that word is used as part of the title of the State Controller, the State Treasurer, the State Board of Control, the State Board of Equalization, the State Treasury, or the Constitution of the State; nor shall the name of the City be substituted for that of the State in any section where the result of such substitution would require action to be taken by or against the City, or any agency thereof, rather than by or against the State Board of Equalization, in performing the functions incident to the administration or operation of the provisions of this chapter; and neither shall the substitution be deemed to have been made in those sections, including, but not necessarily limited to, sections referring to the exterior boundaries of the State where the result of such substitution would be to provide an exemption from this tax with respect to certain gross receipts which would not otherwise be exempt from this tax while those gross receipts remain subject to tax by the State under the provisions of Part 1 of Division 2 of said Revenue and Taxation Code; nor to impose this tax with respect to certain gross receipts which would not be subject to tax by the State under the said provisions of said Code; and, in addition, the name of the City shall not be substituted for that of the State in Sections 6701, 6702 (except in the last sentence thereof), 6711, 6715, 6737, 6797, and 6828 of said Revenue and Taxation Code as adopted.

(3) If a seller's permit has been issued to a retailer pursuant to the provisions of Section 6067 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, an additional seller's permit shall not be required by the provisions of this chapter.

(4) (Operative January 1, 1984) There shall be excluded from the gross receipts by which the tax is measured:

(i) The amount of any sales or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer; and

(ii) The gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property to operators of aircraft to be used or consumed principally outside the City in which the sale is made and directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property under the authority of the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(5) (Operative on the operative date of any act of the Legislature of the State which amends or repeals and reenacts Section 7202 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State to provide an exemption from City sales and use taxes for operators of waterborne vessels in the same, or substantially the same, language as that existing in subsections (7) and (8) of subsection (i) of said Section 7202 as said subsections read on October 1, 1983). There shall be excluded from the gross receipts by which the tax is measured:

(i) The amount of any sales or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer; and

(ii) The gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property to operators of waterborne vessels to be used or consumed principally outside the City in which the sale is made and directly and exclusively in the carriage of persons or property in such vessels for commercial purposes; and

(iii) The gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property to operators of aircraft to be used or consumed principally outside the City in which the sale is made and directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property under the authority of the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(Ord. 444 § 4; Ord. 458 § 1; Ord. 469 §§ 2, 3, 4; Ord. 4-13 § 1; Ord. 4-14 § 1; Ord. 83-5 §§ 1, 3, 1-26-84; Ord. 92-3 § 1, 7-16-92; Ord. 95-3 § 1, 6-1-95; Ord. 97-2 § 1, 6-5-97; Ord. 98-1 § 1, 4-16-98; Ord. 99-3 § 1, 5-6-99; Ord. 2001-02 § 1, 5-17-01; Ord. 2004-01 § 1 (part), 6-4-04)

(a) An excise tax is hereby imposed on the storage, use, or other consumption in the City of tangible personal property purchased from any retailer on and after the operative date of this chapter for storage, use, or other consumption in the City at the rate of zero point nine hundred fifty thousandths of one percent (0.9500%) of the sales price of the property on and after July 1, 2004.

(b) (1)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, and except insofar as they are inconsistent with the provisions of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, all of the provisions of Part 1 of Division 2 of said Code applicable to use taxes are adopted and made a part of this chapter as though fully set forth in this chapter.

(2) Wherever, and to the extent that, in Part 1 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, the State is named or referred to as the taxing agency, the name of the City shall be substituted therefor. Nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to require the substitution of the name of the City for the word "State" when such word is used as part of the title of the State Controller, the State Treasurer, the State Board of Control, the State Board of Equalization, the State Treasury, or the Constitution of the State; nor shall the name of the City be substituted for that of the State in any section where the result of such substitution would require action to be taken by or against the City, or any agency thereof, rather than by or against the State Board of Equalization, in performing the functions incident to the administration or operation of the provisions of this chapter; and neither shall the substitution be deemed to have been made in those sections, including, but not necessarily limited to, sections referring to the exterior boundaries of the State where the result of such substitution would be to provide an exemption from this tax with respect to certain storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property which would not otherwise be exempt from this tax while such storage, use, or other consumption remains subject to tax by the State under the provisions of Part 1 of Division 2 of said Revenue and Taxation Code; nor to impose this tax with respect to certain storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property which would not be subject to tax by the State under the said provisions of said Code; and, in addition, the name of the City shall not be substituted for that of the State in Sections 6701, 6702 (except the last sentence thereof), 6711, 6715, 6737, 6797, and 6828 of said Revenue and Taxation Code as adopted, and the name of the City shall not be substituted for the word "State" in the phrase "retailer engaged in business in this State" in Section 6203 of said Code nor in the definition of that phrase in said Section 6203.

(3) (Operative January 1, 1984) There shall be exempt from the tax due under this section:

(i) The amount of any sales or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer;

(ii) The storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property, the gross receipts from the sale of which have been subject to sales tax under a sales and use tax law enacted in accordance with Part 1.5 of Division 2 of said Revenue and Taxation Code by any City and County, County, or City in the State; and

(iii) In addition to the exemptions provided in Sections 6366 and 6366.1 of said Revenue and Taxation Code the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased by operators of aircraft and used or consumed by such operators directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property for hire or compensation under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued pursuant to the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(4) (Operative on the operative date of any act of the Legislature of the State which amends or repeals and reenacts Section 7202 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State to provide an exemption from City sales and use taxes for operators of waterborne vessels in the same, or substantially the same, language as that existing in subsections (7) and (8) of subsection (i) as said Section 7202 of said subsections read on October 1, 1983) There shall be exempt from the tax due under this section:

(i) The amount of any sales tax or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer;

(ii) The storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property, the gross receipts from the sale of which have been subject to sales tax under a sales tax and use tax law enacted in accordance with Part 1.5 of Division 2 of said Revenue and Taxation Code by any City and County, County, or City in the State;

(iii) The storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased by operators of waterborne vessels and used or consumed by such operators directly and exclusively in the carriage of persons or property in such vessels for commercial purposes; and

(iv) In addition to the exemptions provided in Sections 6366 and 6366.1 of said Revenue and Taxation Code, the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased by operators of aircraft and used or consumed by such operators directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property for hire or compensation under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued pursuant to the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(Ord. 444 § 4; Ord. 458 § 2; Ord. 469 §§ 5, 6; Ord. 4-13 § 2; Ord. 4-14 § 2; Ord. 83-5 §§ 2, 4, 1-26-84; Ord. 92-3 § 1, 7-16-92; Ord. 95-4 § 1, 6-15-95; Ord. 97-1 § 1, 5-1-97; Ord. 98-1 § 1, 4-16-98; Ord. 99-3 § 2, 5-6-99; Ord. 2001-02 § 1, 5-17-01; Ord. 2004-01 § 1 (part), 6-4-04)

(a) Sales Taxes. The following shall be excluded from the gross receipts by which the sales tax is measured pursuant to the provisions of Section 3-5.04 of this chapter:

(1) The amount of any sales or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer;

(2) The gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property to operators of waterborne vessels to be used or consumed principally outside the City in which the sale is made and directly and exclusively to the carriage of persons or property in such vessels for commercial purposes; and

(3) The gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property to operators of aircraft to be used or consumed principally outside the City in which the sale is made and directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property under the authority of the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(b) Use Taxes. The following shall be exempt from the use taxes required by the provisions of Section 3-5.05 of this chapter.

(1) The amount of any sales or use tax imposed by the State upon a retailer or consumer;

(2) The storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property, the gross receipts from the sale of which have been subject to sales tax under a sales and use tax law enacted in accordance with the provisions of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State by any City and County, County, or City in the State;

(3) The storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased by operators of waterborne vessels and used or consumed by such operators directly and exclusively in the carriage of persons or property in such vessels for commercial purposes; and

(4) In addition to the exemptions set forth in Sections 6366 and 6366.1 of said Revenue and Taxation Code, the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased by operators of aircraft and used or consumed by such operators directly and exclusively in the use of such aircraft as common carriers of persons or property for hire or compensation under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued pursuant to the laws of the State, the United States, or any foreign government.

(Ord. 444 § 4, 5; Ord. 4-13 §§ 2, 3)

(a) The provisions of Section 3-5.06 of this chapter shall become operative on January 1 of the year following the year in which the State Board of Equalization adopts an assessment ratio for State-assessed property, which ratio is identical to the ratio which is required for local assessments by the provisions of Section 401 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, at which time the provisions of subsection (4) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.04 and subsection (3) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.05 of this chapter shall become inoperative.

(b) In the event the provisions of Section 3-5.06 of this chapter become operative, and the State Board of Equalization subsequently adopts an assessment ratio for State-assessed property, which ratio is higher than the ratio which is required for local assessments by the provisions of Section 401 of the said Revenue and Taxation Code, the provisions of subsection (4) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.04 and subsection (3) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.05 of this chapter shall become operative on the first day of the month next following the month in which such higher ratio is adopted, at which time the provisions of Section 3-5.06 of this chapter shall become inoperative until the first day of the month following the month in which said Board again adopts an assessment ratio for State-assessed property, which ratio is identical to the ratio required for local assessments by the provisions of said Section 401, at which time the provisions of Section 3-5.06 of this chapter shall again become operative, and the provisions of subsection (4) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.04 and subsection (3) of subsection (b) of Section 3-5.05 of this chapter shall become inoperative.

(Ord. 444 § 6.1, as added by Ord. 4-13 § 4)

All subsequent amendments to the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State, which amendments relate to the sales and use tax and which are not inconsistent with the provisions of Part 1.5 of Division 2 of said Revenue and Taxation Code, shall automatically become a part of this chapter.

(Ord. 444 § 5)

No injunction or writ of mandate or other legal or equitable process shall issue in any suit, action, or proceeding in any court against the State or the City, or against any official of the State or of the City, to prevent or enjoin the collection of any tax or any amount of tax required to be collected under this chapter or Part 1.5 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State.

(Ord. 444 § 6)

On and after the operative date of the provisions of this chapter, Ordinance Nos. 386, 388, 393, 409, and 428 shall be suspended and shall not again be of any force or effect until and unless for any reason the State Board of Equalization ceases to perform the functions incident to the administration and operation of the sales and use taxes imposed by the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, if for any reason it is determined that the City is without power to adopt the provisions of this chapter, or that the State Board of Equalization is without power to perform the functions incident to the administration and operation of the taxes imposed by this chapter, the provisions of Ordinance Nos. 386, 388, 393, 409, and 428 shall not be deemed to have been suspended but shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect at the rate stated therein continually from and after July 1, 1959. Upon the ceasing of the State Board of Equalization to perform the functions incident to the administration and operation of the taxes imposed by this chapter, the provisions of Ordinance Nos. 386, 388, 393, 409, and 428 shall again be in full force and effect at the rate stated therein. The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed as relieving any person of the obligation to pay to the City any sales or use tax accrued and owing by reason of the provisions of Ordinances Nos. 386, 388, 393, 409, and 428 in force and effect prior to and including June 30, 1959.

(§ 7, Ord. 444)

Any retailer or other person who fails or refuses to furnish any return required to be made by the provisions of this chapter, or who fails or refuses to furnish a supplemental return or other data required by the State Board of Equalization, or who renders a false or fraudulent return, and any person required to make, render, sign, or verify any report who makes any false or fraudulent return with the intent to defeat or evade the determination of the amount due required by law to be made shall be punishable as set forth in Chapter 2 of Title 1 of this Code.

(§ 8, Ord. 444)

Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter 5 to the contrary, effective on April 1, 2019, there shall be existing in the City a transactions and use tax of one percent (1.00%). This tax is in addition to the City's existing sales and use tax as set forth in Chapter 5, of Title 3 of the Fowler Municipal Code. The purpose of this transactions and use tax is to fund general governmental services as set forth in Resolution No. 2413 and uncodified Ordinance No. 2018 - 03, and this tax shall be subject to the provisions of uncodified Ordinance No. 2018 - 03. The voters approved the transactions and use tax at a special election held for that purpose on November 6, 2018, by a majority of the voters.

(Ord. No. 2018-02, § 1, 11-6-18)