Hawthorne Municipal Code Ch. 5.17 Administration

Each reference to the director of code enforcement and licensing in this Division 1 of Title 5 shall be interpreted to refer to the director of finance.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

The director of finance may delegate any of his or her authority under this division to: (1) any subordinate employee of the director of finance; (2) any contractor engaged by the city for the purpose of administering one or more aspects of administration of the business license tax; or (3) any other employee of the city, with the permission of that employee's department head.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

The director of finance is authorized to issue such administrative interpretations of the provisions of Title 5 as he or she deems necessary to the proper administration of the city's business license tax.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

The director of finance is authorized to waive any penalty otherwise imposed upon a taxpayer pursuant to Section 5.10.050 to the extent the director of finance determines that: (1) the taxpayer's failure to timely pay the full tax due was the result of incorrect advice given to the taxpayer by the city; or (2) was the result of a good faith effort by the taxpayer to properly complete a form provided by the city that was susceptible to multiple interpretations.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

Any audit conducted pursuant to Section 5.10.070 may include the taxes associated with the current calendar year as of the commencement of the audit and the three most recently completed full calendar years. The director of finance is not authorized to issue an assessment pursuant to Section 5.10.090 for any year prior to this period, so long as the taxpayer obtained a business license from the city for that year. The director of finance is authorized to issue an assessment pursuant to Section 5.10.090 for each of the most recently completed seven calendar years, with respect to any year for which the taxpayer obtained no business license for business conducted at a location.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

With respect to any tax year ending no later than December 31, 2014, a taxpayer shall be deemed to have paid his or her business license tax in full if all of the following are true with respect to the taxpayer for the tax year: (1) the business was operated out of a residence in the city of Hawthorne; (2) no business operations occurred at that residence aside from bookkeeping, scheduling, and similar "back office" operations associated with performing contracting services at customer sites; (3) gross receipts for the business did not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars for the tax year; (4) the person operating the business possessed a valid contractor's license issued by the state of California; and (5) the person operating the business obtained a "contractor" business license from the city, no later than December 31, 2014, for the tax year.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

With respect to any tax year ending no later than December 31, 2014, a taxpayer shall be deemed to have paid his or her business license tax in full if all of the following are true with respect to the taxpayer for the tax year: (1) the business consists of leasing commercial property that is not occupied by the taxpayer; (2) the taxpayer engages the services of a property manager that is legally a separate entity from the taxpayer and that is responsible for leasing the property to tenants and otherwise providing services under the lease to tenants; (3) the property manager obtains a business license for the tax year with respect to their management of the property and pays a business license tax to the city; and (4) the taxpayer did not obtain a business license with respect to the business prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter with respect to the tax year. With respect to any tax year ending subsequent to December 31, 2014, there shall be no tax due from a taxpayer who meets criteria (1) and (2) of the previous sentence, if the property manager for the commercial property obtains a business license and pays a business license tax based on the full amount of rent collected from tenants by the property manager. Otherwise, a taxpayer who meets criteria (1) and (2) shall pay a tax based on their gross receipts received from the property manager.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)

Nothing contained in this title shall be deemed or construed to require the payment of any business license tax by any person transacting, engaging in or carrying on any business which is exempt from the payment of such taxes under the Constitution or statutes of the state of California of the United States. Furthermore, nothing contained in this title shall be construed to require the payment of a business license tax in an amount that is impermissible under the Constitution or statutes of the state of California of the United States. In the event a tax would otherwise exceed such permissible amount, it is reduced to the highest legally permissible amount under the Constitution or statutes of the state of California of the United States.

(Ord. 2100 § 1, 2015)