AB 88, as amended, Gomez. Sales and use taxes: exemption: energy or water efficient home appliances.
(1) Existing sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from their sales of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, or on the storage, use, or other consumption of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, and specify certain exemptions from the amount of tax imposed.
This bill, until January 1, 2021, would exempt from these taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, an energy or water efficient home appliance purchased by a public utility that is provided at no cost to a low-income participant in a federal, state, or ratepayer-funded energybegin insert or waterend insert efficiency program for use by that low-income participant in the energy efficiency program. This bill would define terms for its purposes.
(2) 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 generally in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to state sales and use taxes are incorporated into these laws.
Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code provides that the state will reimburse counties and cities for revenue losses caused by the enactment of sales and use tax exemptions.
This bill would provide that, notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made and the state shall not reimburse any local agencies for sales and use tax revenues lost by them pursuant to this bill.
(3) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy, but its operative date would depend on its effective date.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 6371.5 is added to the Revenue and
2Taxation Code, to read:
(a) (1) There are exempted from the taxes imposed
4by this part the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage and
5use of, or other consumption in this state of, an energy or water
6efficient home appliance purchased by a public utility that is
7provided at no cost to a low-income participant in a federal, state,
8or ratepayer-funded energybegin insert or waterend insert efficiency program for use
9by that low-income participant in the energybegin insert or waterend insert efficiency
10program.
11(2) Any amounts
that would have been paid as sales tax
12
reimbursement or use tax by the public utility but for the exemption
13provided by paragraph (1) shall be used by the public utility to
14purchase additional energy or water efficient home appliances to
P3 1be provided at no cost to low-income participants in the energybegin insert or
2waterend insert efficiency program.
3(b) For purposes of this section:
4(1) “Energy or water efficient home appliance” means a
5refrigerator or clothes washer that meets performance requirements
6under the ENERGY STAR program, established pursuant to
7Section 6294a of Title 42 of the United States Code.
8(2) “Low-income participant” means a person who
is a
9participant in the Californiabegin delete Alternate Rates for Energy program, begin insert Public Utilities Commission’s Energy
10also known as the CARE program, as established by Section 739.1
11of the Public Utilities Code.end delete
12Savings Assistance Program (ESAP), or a similar energy or water
13efficiency program, provided by a public utility with income
14guidelines that do not exceed the income guidelines for ESAP
15participants. end insert
16(3) “Public utility” means an entity defined in Section 216 or
17224.3 of the Public Utilities Code.
18(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2021,
19and
as of that date is repealed.
Notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and
21Taxation Code, no appropriation is made by this act and the state
22shall not reimburse any local agency for any sales and use tax
23revenues lost by it under this act.
This act provides for a tax levy within the meaning of
25Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect.
26However, the provisions of this act shall become operative on the
27first day of the first calendar quarter commencing more than 90
28days after the effective date of this act.
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