BILL NUMBER: AB 769 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 14, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 402.5 of the Revenue and Taxation
Code, relating to taxation. An act to add and repeal
Section 6356.9 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to
taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 769, as amended, Skinner. Property taxation: valuing
property: comparable sales. Sales and use taxes:
exemption: efficient clothes washers.
Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured
by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property
sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other
consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased
from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state,
as measured by sales price. Those laws provides various exemptions
from those taxes.
This bill would, on and after July 1, 2014, exempt from those
taxes the gross receipts and the sales price that do not exceed $750
from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this
state of, a qualified efficient clothes washer purchased for
installation and use in this state.
The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes
counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity
with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing law authorizes
districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in
conformity with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which conforms to
the Sales and Use Tax Law. Exemptions from state sales and use taxes
are incorporated into these laws.
This bill would specify that this exemption does not apply to
local sales and use taxes, transactions and use taxes, and specified
state taxes from which revenues are deposited into the Fiscal
Recovery Fund, Local Public Safety Fund, the Education Protection
Account, Local Revenue Fund, and Local Revenue Fund 2011.
This bill would be in effect until July 1, 2015, unless the state
of emergency declared by the Governor due to drought conditions on
January 17, 2014, is terminated before July 1, 2015, and would
provide that in that event, this bill would remain in effect only
until midnight on the first day of the first calendar quarter
commencing more than 60 days after the date of the termination of the
state of emergency.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing property tax law requires, when valuing property by
comparison with sales of other properties, that to be considered
comparable the sales be sufficiently near in time to the valuation
date and that the properties sold be located sufficiently near, and
be sufficiently alike, the property being valued, as specified.
This bill would make a clarifying change to this provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) Water is a finite resource in California, and dry hydrologic
conditions caused by current drought conditions increase the
uncertainty of water supplies.
(b) The 2013 calendar year was the driest year on record in
California, and persistent dry conditions since 2012 have led to
alarmingly low water levels in the state's snowpack, reservoirs,
river systems, and underground aquifers.
(c) Reliable water supplies are essential for public health and
safety; the stability of local, regional, and statewide economies;
and food security.
(d) Water use efficiency and conservation measures, including the
use of efficient clothes washers, are effective strategies for
helping local communities withstand drought conditions and respond to
increasing water scarcity.
SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to
provide for a sales and use tax exemption for the sale of, and the
storage, use, or other consumption of, efficient clothes washers from
a portion of the state sales and use taxes to reduce household water
usage amid the exceptional drought California is facing.
SEC. 3. Section 6356.9 is added to the
Revenue and Taxation Code , to read:
6356.9. (a) On and after July 1, 2014, there are exempted from
the taxes imposed by this part the gross receipts that do not exceed
seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) from the sale of, and the storage,
use, or other consumption in this state, as measured by sales price
that does not exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) of, a
qualified efficient clothes washer purchased for installation and use
in this state.
(b) For purposes of this section, "qualified efficient clothes
washer" means any residential or commercial washer of a model that
has been recognized by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency as meeting the agency's performance requirements under the
ENERGY STAR program, established pursuant to Section 6294a of Title
42 of the United States Code, and at the time of sale or purchase is
included on the list entitled "ENERGY STAR Certified Residential
Clothes Washers" or "ENERGY STAR Certified Commercial Clothes Washers"
maintained by the agency, in effect on the effective date of this
section.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and
Use Tax Law (Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 7200)) and the
Transactions and Use Tax Law (Part 1.6 (commencing with Section
7251)), the exemption established by this section shall not apply
with respect to any tax levied by a county, city, or district
pursuant to, or in accordance with, either of those laws.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the exemption established by
this section shall not apply with respect to any tax levied pursuant
to Section 6051.2, 6051.5, 6201.2, or 6201.5, pursuant to Section 35
and subdivision (f) of Section 36 of Article XIII of the California
Constitution, or any tax levied pursuant to Section 6051 or 6201 that
is deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Local
Revenue Fund 2011 pursuant to Section 6051.15 or 6201.15.
(d) This section shall remain in effect until July 1, 2015, and as
of that date is repealed, unless the state of emergency declared by
the Governor due to drought conditions on January 17, 2014, is
terminated before July 1, 2015, in accordance with Section 8629 of
the Government Code. In that event, this section shall remain in
effect only until midnight on the first day of the first calendar
quarter commencing more than 60 days after the date of the
termination of the state of emergency, and as of that date is
repealed.
SEC. 4. This act provides for a tax levy within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect.
SECTION 1. Section 402.5 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code is amended to read:
402.5. When valuing property by comparison with sales of other
properties, in order to be considered comparable, the sales shall be
sufficiently near in time to the valuation date, and the properties
sold shall be located sufficiently near the property being valued,
and shall be sufficiently alike in respect to character, size,
situation, usability, zoning, or other legal restriction as to use
unless rebutted pursuant to Section 402.1, to make it clear that the
properties sold and the properties being valued are comparable in
value and that the cash equivalent price realized for the properties
sold may fairly be considered as shedding light on the value of the
property being valued. "Near in time to the valuation date" does not
include any sale more than 90 days after the valuation date.