Example 1: Retailer A has no physical presence in California, and uses its own website to sell goods at retail. Retailer A's gross revenue from sales of goods for delivery in California during calendar year 2018 e ceeded $500,000. Therefore, on April 1, 2019, retailer A is a retailer engaged in business in this state. Retailer A is required to be registered with the Department on April 1, 2019, and is required to collect use tax on its retail sales to California customers on and after April 1, 2019.
Example 2: Retailer B has no physical presence in California, and uses its own website to sell goods at retail. Retailer B's gross revenue from sales of goods for delivery in California did not exceed $500,000 during calendar year 2018, but did exceed $500,000 during the period from January 1, 2019 through March 31, 2019. Therefore, on April 1, 2019, Retailer B is a retailer engaged in business in this state. Retailer B is required to be registered with the Department on April 1, 2019, and is required to collect use tax on its retail sales to California customers on and after April 1, 2019.
Example: Retailer C has no physical presence in California and uses its own website to sell goods at retail. Retailer C's gross revenue from sales for delivery in California was less than $500,000 during calendar year 2018 and during the period from January 1 through March 31, 2019. Therefore, on April 1, 2019, Retailer C was not a retailer engaged in business in this state and was not required to be registered with the Department or to collect use tax. However, on August 1, 2019, Retailer C made a retail sale of jewelry for $900 that brought its total sales for delivery into California to $500,400 for calendar year 2019. Therefore, Retailer C is a retailer engaged in business in this state immediately after the sale and is required to register with the Department and begin collecting use tax on its retail sales to California customers made after the $900 sale of jewelry on August 1, 2019.
The determination as to whether a retailer has made the requisite amount of sales to purchasers in California during the preceding 12-month period shall be made at the end of each calendar quarter. A retailer is not engaged in business in this state pursuant to this paragraph if the total cumulative sales price of all of the tangible personal property the retailer sold to purchasers in California that were referred to the retailer by a person or persons in California pursuant to an agreement or agreements described above, in the preceding 12 months, is not in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or if the retailer's total cumulative sales of tangible personal property to purchasers in California were not in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000) in the preceding 12 months.
For purposes of this paragraph, the term "retailer" includes an entity affiliated with a retailer within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code section 1504, which defines the term "affiliated group" for federal income tax purposes.
A retailer is excused from the requirement to obtain a certification if the person from whom the certification is required is dead, lacks the capacity to make such certification, or cannot reasonably be located by the retailer and there is no evidence to indicate that such person did in fact engage in any prohibited solicitation activities in California at any time during the previous year.
Except as provided in this paragraph, a retailer is not "engaged in business in this state" based solely on the retailer's convention and trade show activities provided that:
A retailer coming within the provisions of this subdivision is, however, "engaged in business in this state," and is liable for collection of the applicable use tax, with respect to any sale of tangible personal property occurring at the retailer's convention and trade show activities and with respect to any sale of tangible personal property made pursuant to an order taken at or during those convention and trade show activities.
However, the provisions of this regulation continue to apply to a retailer that closes its Certificate of Registration-Use Tax, and a retailer should not close its certificate if it anticipates that it will be required to re-register with the Department during the current calendar year.
Example 1: Retailer D had no physical presence in California in calendar years 2018 through 2021. Retailer D's total combined sales for delivery in California exceeded $500,000 during calendar year 2018, but not in calendar years 2019, 2020, or 2021. Retailer D registered with the Department during 2019 and was required to remain registered and collect use tax during the remainder of the year. Retailer D had the option to voluntarily maintain its Certificate of Registration-Use Tax with the Department for calendar years 2020 and 2021 or close its certificate on or after January 1, 2020, and stop collecting use tax after its certificate is closed.
Example 2: Retailer E had no physical presence in California in calendar years 2018 through 2021. Retailer E's total combined sales for delivery in California exceeded $500,000 in calendar 2019, but not in calendar years 2018, 2020, or 2021. Retailer E registered with the Department during 2019 and was required to remain registered and collect use tax during the remainder of the year and all of calendar year 2020. Retailer E had the option to voluntarily maintain its Certification of Registration-Use Tax with the Department for calendar year 2021 or close its certificate on or after January 1, 2021, and stop collecting use tax after its certificate is closed.
Example 3: Retailer F had a place of business in California and used its own website to make retail sales of camping equipment. On November 1, 2019, Retailer F closed its place of business in California, moved to a new place of business in Wyoming, and no longer had any physical presence in California. However, Retailer F continued to make retail sales for delivery in California using its own website, but had less than $500,000 in total combined sales of tangible personal property for delivery in California during 2020 and 2021. Retailer F was required to remain registered and collect use tax during the remainder of calendar year 2019 and all of calendar year 2020. Retailer F had the option to voluntarily maintain its Certificate of Registration-Use Tax with the Department for calendar year 2021 or close its certificate on or after January 1, 2021, and stop collecting use tax after its certificate is closed.
Example 4: Retailer G had no physical presence in California in calendar years 2018 through 2021. Retailer G's total combined sales for delivery in California were $450,000 in calendar year 2018, $600,000 in calendar year 2019, and $490,000 in calendar year 2020, and Retailer G planned to increase its advertising in California and anticipated that the advertising would increase its sales for delivery in California. Retailer G registered with the Department during calendar year 2019 and was required to remain registered and collect use tax during the remainder of the year and all of calendar year 2020. Retailer G had the option to voluntarily maintain its Certificate of Registration-Use Tax with the Department for calendar year 2021 or close its Certificate of Registration-Use Tax on or after January 1, 2021, and stop collecting use tax after its certificate is closed. Retailer G chose to close its Certificate of Registration - Use Tax on January 1, 2021. However, Retailer G probably should not have closed its certificate because it anticipated that it would be required to re-register with the Department due to the total combined sales of tangible personal property for delivery in California by the retailer and all persons related to the retailer during calendar year 2021.
Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 18, § 1684
2. The amendment filed 7-27-2012 is operative 9-15-2012 based on certification provided on 8-15-2012 by the Director of the Department of Finance, as required by Assembly Bill No. 155 (Stats. 2011, ch. 313), that no federal law authorizing states to require a seller to collect taxes on sales of goods to in-state purchasers without regard to the location of a seller was enacted by the 7-31-2012 deadline (Register 2012, No. 34).
3. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (i) filed 9-29-2014 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2014, No. 40).
4. Amendment filed 3-30-2020; operative 3-30-2020. Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only (Register 2020, No. 14).
Note: Authority cited: Section 7051, Revenue and Taxation Code. Reference: Sections 6203, 6204, 6226 and 7051.3, Revenue and Taxation Code; and Section 513(d)(3)(A), Internal Revenue Code (26 USC).