Existing law imposes a sales tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, and a use tax 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, measured by sales price. That law requires every retailer engaged in business in this state, as defined, and making sales of tangible personal property for storage, use, or other consumption in this state to collect the tax from the purchaser. Existing law defines a “retailer engaged in business in this state” to include a retailer that has substantial nexus with this state and a retailer upon whom federal law permits the state to impose a use tax collection duty; a retailer entering into an agreement or agreements under which a person or persons in this state, for a commission or other consideration, directly or indirectly refer potential purchasers of tangible personal property to the retailer, whether by an Internet-based link or an Internet Web site, or otherwise, provided that 2 specified conditions are met, including the condition that the retailer, within the preceding 12 months, has total cumulative sales of tangible personal property to purchasers in this state in excess of $500,000; and a retailer that is a member of a commonly controlled group, as defined under the Corporation Tax Law, and a member of a combined reporting group, as defined, that includes another member of the retailer’s commonly controlled group that, pursuant to an agreement with or in cooperation with the retailer, performs services in this state in connection with tangible personal property to be sold by the retailer.

This bill would revise the definition of a “retailer engaged in business in this state” to temporarily eliminate the above-mentioned inclusions in that definition, and would condition the commencement of the operation of these inclusions upon the enactment of a certain federal law and the state’s election to implement that law. This bill, for purposes of one of those inclusions, would revise the cumulative sales condition to increase the amount of total cumulative sales of tangible personal property to purchasers in this state to an amount in excess of $1,000,000.

This bill would provide that certain provisions of this bill are severable.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.