Torrance Municipal Code Art. 2 Use Tax

(Added by O-753; Amended by O-1109)

220.2.1 DEFINED.

Use includes the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to the ownership of that property, subject, however, to the following exemptions:

a) It does not include the sale of that property in the regular course of business;

b) It does not include the keeping, retaining or exercising of any right or power over tangible personal property shipped or brought into this City and which is thereafter transported outside the City for principal use or consumption outside the City, and which property is actually so used or consumed;

c) It does not include the use of such property for the purpose of being processed, fabricated, or manufactured into, attached to or incorporated into, other tangible personal property which is to be transported outside the City and thereafter used principally outside the City, or which is to be subsequently sold or resold in the regular course of business;

d) It does not include the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to ownership of that property if such property was purchased for principal use or consumption outside the City and is so used or consumed.

e) It does not include the use of tangible personal property actually employed in the transportation or transmission of persons, property, gas, electricity or communications in intrastate, interstate or foreign commerce by public utilities regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California.

220.2.2 IMPOSITION AND RATE OF TAX.

An excise tax is hereby imposed on the use or other consumption in the City of tangible personal property purchased from any retailer on or after the effective date of this Article for use or other consumption in said City at the rate of one (1) percent of the sales price of the property.

220.2.3 USE TAX LEVIED IN SAME MANNER AS STATE TAX.

The tax hereby levied, except as otherwise herein provided, is levied in the same manner, to the same extent and under the same conditions as use taxes are levied pursuant to Part 1 of Division 2 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, known as the Sales and Use Tax Law as amended.

220.2.4 ADOPTION OF STATE USE TAX LAW BY REFERENCE; EXCEPTIONS.

a) All of the provisions of the Sales and Use Tax Law as amended, except the provisions thereof pertaining solely to the Sales Tax and Sections 6008, 6201 to 6204, inclusive, 6207, 6226, 6241 to 6246, inclusive, 6403, 6453, 7052, 7056, 7057, 7101, 7102, 7151, 7152 and 7153, are hereby adopted and made a part of this Article as though fully set forth herein, and all provisions of any other Article in conflict therewith are inapplicable to this Article and the tax hereby imposed; provided, that the term sales price shall not include the amount of any California State sales tax or use tax, and that the word storage shall for the purposes of this Article be deemed deleted from those provisions of the California Revenue and Taxation Code adopted by reference, it being the intent of the Council that the tax imposed by this Article shall not apply to the storage of tangible personal property.

b) All of the provisions of the Sales and Use Tax Law hereby adopted providing for the adoption of rules and regulations and for hearings on the part of the State Board of Equalization shall be performed by the City Council. All other provisions of the State Sales and Use Tax Law hereby adopted providing for performance of official action on the part of the State Board of Equalization shall be performed by the City Clerk and License Collector.

c) The City shall be deemed substituted for the State of California whenever the State is referred to in said Sales and Use Tax Law.

d) The City Attorney shall be deemed substituted for the Attorney General whenever the Attorney General is referred to in said Sales and Use Tax Law.

e) The City Clerk shall be deemed substituted for the State Controller and State Board of Control whenever the State Controller or State Board of Control are referred to in said Sales and Use Tax Law.

f) The County of Los Angeles shall be deemed substituted for the County of Sacramento whenever the County of Sacramento is referred to in said Sales and Use Tax Law.

220.2.5 ADOPTION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS BY REFERENCE.

The rules and regulations of the State Board of Equalization pertaining to the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the Sales and Use Tax Law insofar as applicable, shall apply to the interpretation of this Article until specifically abandoned by the rules and regulations adopted by the City Council pursuant to this Article.

220.2.6 INTERPRETATION.

The inclusion of any clause, portion or part of the Sales and Use Tax Law, Part 1, Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State of California, verbatim in this Article shall not in or of itself be deemed to exclude any of the remaining provisions of said Sales and Use Tax Law that are made a part hereof by reference only.

220.2.7 DUTY TO COLLECT TAX.

Every retailer maintaining a place of business in this City shall apply to the City Clerk and License Collector for authorization to collect the tax imposed by this Article. Any retailer not maintaining a place of business in this City may apply to the City Clerk and License Collector for authorization to collect the tax hereby imposed. Upon receipt of any application in such form as required by him, the City Clerk and License Collector, in the case of a retailer maintaining a place of business in the City, shall authorize, and in the case of a retailer not maintaining a place of business in the City, may authorize the applicant to make such collections and to forward the same to the City Clerk and License Collector.

220.2.8 PERSONS LIABLE TO TAX.

Every person using or otherwise consuming in this City tangible personal property purchased from a retailer, is liable for the tax; provided, however, no tax shall be due hereunder if the tax imposed by Ordinance No. 397 of the City, as amended, has been paid on the sale of such property. The liability of such person is not extinguished until the tax has been paid to the City, except that a receipt from a retailer authorized pursuant to Sec. 220.2.7. to collect the tax, given to the purchaser pursuant to Sec. 220.2.9. is sufficient to relieve the purchaser from further liability for the tax to which the receipt refers.

220.2.9 COLLECTION OF TAX BY RETAILER.

Every retailer who is authorized by the City Clerk and License Collector to collect the tax imposed by this Article and who makes sales of tangible personal property for use or other consumption in this City, not exempted under the provisions of this Article, shall collect the tax from the purchaser at the time of making the sale, or if the use or other consumption of the tangible personal property is not then taxable hereunder, at the time the use or other consumption becomes taxable. Upon collecting the tax, the retailer, on demand, shall give to the purchaser a receipt therefor in the manner and form prescribed by the City Clerk and License Collector. The tax so collected by the retailer shall be held in trust by him for the City and shall be paid to the City by the retailer in the manner and at the times elsewhere provided in this Article.

220.2.10 SEPARATE DISPLAY OF TAX FROM LIST OR OTHER PRICE.

The tax so collected by the retailer from the purchaser shall be displayed separately from the list price, the price advertised in the premises, the marked price or other price on the sales check or other proof of sale.

220.2.11 PERSONAL PROPERTY TO WHICH TAX APPLIED.

Except as otherwise specifically exempted, the tax hereby imposed applies to all tangible personal property located in this City and purchased from a retailer; provided, however, that if the retailer in good faith takes from the purchaser a certificate that the property was purchased prior to the effective date of this Article or was not purchased for use or consumption in this City and has not been nor will be so used, or consumed, he shall be relieved of liability to collect and pay the tax. The certificate shall be signed by and bear the name of the purchaser, shall indicate the address of the purchaser and the place where such tangible personal property will be used or consumed, the date of purchase, and shall be substantially in such form as the City Clerk and License Collector may prescribe.

220.2.12 EXEMPTIONS.

In addition to those exemptions contained in Part 1 of Division 2 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code which are incorporated into this Article by reference, there shall be excluded from the computation of the tax the sales price of:

a) Purchases made by the State or by any agency, department, political subdivision, district or municipal corporation thereof;

b) Purchases of tangible personal property to be used in connection with the erection, construction, repair or alteration of either public works or buildings belonging to or being constructed by or on behalf of or for the use of the United States Government, the State or any agency, department, political subdivision, district or public or municipal corporation of the State;

c) Purchases made pursuant to contracts actually executed in good faith prior to August 1, 1955;

d) Purchases of property upon which a sales tax, purchase tax, use tax or any of them has been legally imposed by and paid on the same transaction to any city of the State.

220.2.13 REGISTRATION OF RETAILERS.

Every retailer selling tangible personal property for use or other consumption in the City and which retailer maintains a place of business in said City or acts through agents located in said City and which retailer is not licensed under the provisions of Ordinance No. 397, as amended, shall register with the City Clerk and License Collector and give the name and address of such agent or agents and office or other place of business in the City.

220.2.14 DUE DATE OF TAXES.

Taxes imposed by this Article are due and payable to the City Clerk and License Collector on or before the last day of the month next succeeding each quarterly period, the first quarterly payment to be due and payable under this Article on or before the first day of October, 1955. The City Clerk and License Collector may require returns and payment of the amount of taxes for quarterly periods other than calendar quarters depending upon the principal place of or the nature of the business of the seller or retailer or may require returns and payment of the amount of taxes for other than quarterly periods.

220.2.15 RETURNS.

Each return filed by a retailer shall show the total sale price of the property sold by him during the reporting period in respect of which he collected the tax hereby imposed. Each return filed by a purchaser shall show the total sale price of the property purchased by him during the reporting period, in respect of which a tax is due under this Article. All returns shall also show the amount of the taxes for the period covered by the return and such other information as the City Clerk and License Collector deem necessary to the proper administration of this Article.

220.2.16 EXTENSION OF TIME; WAIVER OF COMPROMISE.

The City Clerk and License Collector shall have power, for good cause shown, to extend for a period of not to exceed thirty-one (31) days, the time for making any return or paying any amount required to be paid under this Article, when requested to do so in writing, before the same becomes delinquent. The City Clerk and License Collector may, with the written approval of the City Attorney, waive or compromise any penalty or interest that would otherwise accrue under the provisions of this Article. The City Clerk and License Collector shall make and transmit to the City Council quarterly, a detailed report of any sums so waived or compromised with the reasons therefor.

220.2.17 SCHEDULES FOR PAYMENT OF TAX.

The City Council, by resolution, shall adopt rules prescribing methods and schedules for the collection and payment of the tax. Such schedules shall be so determined as to facilitate collection of this tax at the same time that the retailer collects the tax imposed under the California Sales and Use Tax Law and so as to produce an average tax return of one (1) percent on all purchases subject to the use tax.

220.2.18 SUIT FOR TAX.

All taxes hereby levied shall be payable to the City Clerk and License Collector and any civil suit for the collection thereof may be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California and the City Attorney of the City shall prosecute the action.

220.2.19 RESALE CERTIFICATE.

The City Clerk and License Collector may at his option, accept a State of California resale certificate as evidence that any sale is not a sale for use or consumption in the City, or he may in his discretion, require an affidavit from the seller setting forth such information respecting such sale as he deems necessary to determine the nature of such sale.

220.2.20 DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.

All monies collected under and pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall be deposited and paid into the general fund of the City.

220.2.21 DIVULGING OF INFORMATION FORBIDDEN.

No officer or employee of the City having an administrative duty under this Article shall make known in any manner whatever the business affairs, operations, or information obtained by an investigation of records and equipment or any retailer or any other person visited or examined in the discharge of official duty, or the amount or source of income, profits, losses, expenditures, or any particulars thereof, set forth or disclosed in any return, or permit any return or copy thereof or any book containing any abstract or particulars thereof to be seen or examined by any person. However, the City Council may, by resolution, authorize examination of the returns by Federal or State officers or employees or by the tax officers of or any other City if a reciprocal arrangement exists. Successors, receivers, trustees, executors, administrators, assignees and guarantors, if directly interested, may be given information as to the items included in the measure and amounts of any unpaid tax or amounts of tax required to be collected, interest and penalties.

220.2.22 FALSE OR FRAUDULENT RETURNS.

No person required to make, render, sign or verify any report under the provisions of this Article, shall make any false or fraudulent return, with intent to defeat or evade, the determination of an amount due and required to be paid hereunder.

220.2.23 FAILURE TO MAKE RETURN OR FURNISH DATA.

No retailer or other person shall fail or refuse to furnish any return required to be made or fail or refuse to furnish a supplemental return or other data required by the City Clerk and License Collector, or render a false or fraudulent return.