Red Bluff Municipal Code § 12.7 Exemptions from Taxation

(A) Selling edibles or other products from a vehicle provided the edibles or products are grown by the seller within the county shall not require the payment of a business license tax.

(B) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed or construed to apply to any person transacting and carrying on any business exempt by virtue of the Constitution or applicable statutes of the United States or of the state from the payment of the taxes, as are herein prescribed.

(C) (1) None of the license taxes provided for by this chapter shall be so applied as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce. In any case where a license tax is believed by a licensee or applicant for license to place an undue burden upon the commerce, he or she may apply to the Director of Finance for an adjustment of the tax so that it shall not be discriminatory or unreasonable as to the commerce. The application may be made before, at or within six months after payment of the prescribed license tax. The applicant shall, by affidavit and supporting testimony, show his or her method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and other information as the Director of Finance may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of the undue burden on the commerce.

(2) 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. In fixing the license tax to be charged, the Director of Finance shall have the power to base the license tax upon a percentage of gross receipts or any other measure which will assure that the license tax assessed shall be uniform with that assessed on businesses of like nature, so long as the amount assessed does not exceed the license tax as prescribed by this chapter.

(3) Should the Director of Finance determine the gross receipts measure of license tax to be the proper basis, he or she may require the applicant to submit, either at the time of termination of applicant’s business in the city or at the end of each three-month period, a sworn statement of the gross receipts and pay the amount of license tax therefor, provided that no additional license tax during any one calendar year shall be required after the licensee shall have paid an amount equal to the annual license tax as prescribed in this chapter.

(D) Any person claiming an exemption pursuant to this section shall file a verified statement with the Director of Finance stating the facts upon which exemption is claimed.

(E) The Director of Finance shall, upon a proper showing contained in the verified statement, issue a license to the person claiming exemption under this section without payment to the city of the license tax required by this chapter.

(F) The Director of Finance, after giving notice and a reasonable opportunity for hearing to a licensee, may revoke any license granted pursuant to the provisions of this section upon information that the licensee is not entitled to the exemption as provided herein.

(`61 Code, § 12.7) (Ord. 397, passed 12-27-1960)

(A) Nonprofit corporations, exempt under the laws of the state and country from the payment of corporation franchise taxes or corporation income taxes, shall not be required to obtain any license to engage in door-to-door solicitation or to conduct occasional sales in the nature of rummage sales or sales of other than new merchandise. Nonprofit corporations having a regular place of business and which dispense on a regular basis, food or beverages or which sell merchandise on a regular basis at a fixed place of business, shall obtain a business license for which the annual fee shall be $25. No additional fee shall be levied for a license nor tax imposed. Evidence of nonprofit status of the corporation shall be in the form of an exemption letter issued by the Franchise Tax Board of the state.

(B) In the interests of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the city, the city may require persons who solicit funds or who sell merchandise door-to-door, who are members of a nonprofit corporation, to obtain an identification card or device from the city. The City Council delegates to the Chief of Police of the city the authority to require the issuance of the identification card or cards or device to any person or persons engaged in solicitation in the city on behalf of a nonprofit corporation. The identification card or device shall identify the solicitor, the organization for which he or she is soliciting, the duration of the validity of the identification card or device and any other information which the Chief of Police deems necessary for proper identification. The card or device shall specifically state that it is not a license and that the city does not endorse the organization which is soliciting funds or sales of merchandise.

(`61 Code, § 12.7-1) (Ord. 624, passed 3-20-1979; Am. Ord. 714, passed 3-1-1983)