published August, 2013
Several of my California business clients have received notices that they were supposed to have filed Use Tax Returns with the California Board of Equalization.
Don’t panic if you got one of these notices. They are, for the most part, looking for sales tax on purchase you made from out of state. When you buy something in California for use in California, you pay sales tax in the location where the “transfer” takes place, like the store. When you buy something from out of state, you don’t pay sales tax to that “foreign” state, like Nevada, but if you are the end user of some tangible product, like a book or a toner cartridge, California wants you to report the purchase, and pay “Use” tax (which equals sales tax) on what you bought.
The CA BOE has gone completely on-line, so if you have the “express login code” and the account number, conveniently provided for you on the letters they’re sending out, you can file this on-line.
To find any purchases, I usually start with things from Amazon.