Free California Use Tax for Purchases made from Out-of-State Businesses - California

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his publication provides information about California use tax and contains a simple use tax return for individuals. Business owners

California Use Tax
for purchases made from out-of-state businesses

If you have a California sales or use tax permit, use this return only to report personal purchases not related to your business. Cigarette and Tobacco Product Consumers You must pay state taxes if the out-ofstate seller does not collect them from you. Contact the Excise Taxes Division at 916-327-4208 for more information.

Need more information?
Website www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/faqusetax.htm Publications Download or order these publications from our website or call our Information Center for a copy. 53-A Consumer Sales and Use Tax Questions 109 110 112 Are Your Internet Sales Taxable? California Use Tax Basics Purchases from Out-of-State Vendors

Information Center 800-400-7115 TDD/TTY: 800-735-2929 Staff are available to help you from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific time, Monday through Friday (except state holidays).

State Board of Equalization P.O. Box 942879 Sacramento, CA 94279-7071

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State Board of Equalization Publication 79-B · LDA · April 2007

California Use Tax
Many individuals and businesses in California buy items from out-of-state businesses that do not collect California tax on their sales. If you make such a purchase and then use, give away, store, or otherwise consume the item in this state, you may owe California use tax. This is true whether you order over the Internet, by telephone, or by mail. The use tax rate for a given California location is the same as the sales tax rate there.

Completing Your Use Tax Return
You may use this simple return to pay the California use tax you owe. Follow these easy steps, starting at the top of the form:

BOE 401-DS REV 1 (12-03)

StatE Of CalifORnia BOaRD Of EqualizatiOn

Use Tax Return
Please complete all items. Please print.
namE

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Fill in your name, address, city, county, state, and zip code. Provide a general description of the items you purchased, for example, "furniture" or "books." List the purchase price of the items, including handling charges. Do not include separately stated amounts for freight or any tax you paid the seller. Round amounts to the nearest whole dollar. Total your purchases on the "total" line. Multiply the total by the sales and use tax rate in effect where the property is used, stored, or otherwise consumed. Use the decimal equivalent, for example 7.25% is 0.0725, 7.375% is 0.07375. The result is the use tax that applies to your purchase. List it on the line that says "use tax subtotal." If you don't know your sales and use tax rate, visit our website, www.boe.ca.gov, or call our Information Center at 800-400-7115. Deduct the amount of any sales tax you paid to another state for the purchases listed. Note: For each purchase, you cannot deduct more than the amount of tax that would have been due if the purchase had been made in California. Send us a check for the balance ("total use tax due") along with the form. Please make a copy of the form for your records.
aPRil 2007

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City, COunty, StatE, ziP CODE

How can I tell if I owe use tax?
Generally, if sales tax would apply when you buy a particular item in California, use tax applies when you make a similar purchase from a business located outside the state. If a seller does not collect and report the California tax on your purchase, you must report and pay use tax to us. For example, if you buy a dining table at a California retail store, sales tax applies to the transaction. If you choose instead to buy the table over the Internet from a company in North Carolina, and the table is shipped from outside California, use tax applies.

GEnERal DESCRiPtiOn Of itEmS PuRChaSED $ $ $ Please remove along dotted line. $ $ tOtal tax RatE uSE tax SuBtOtal DEDuCt SalES tax PaiD tO anOthER StatE tOtal uSE tax DuE $ X $

PuRChaSE PRiCE

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How do I report and pay the use tax?
California's income tax returns include a line to report use tax. This line makes it easy to report and pay use tax on out-of-state purchases for individuals and businesses that are not required to have a seller's permit with the Board of Equalization. Additional information is included in the tax booklets sent with your income tax return. If you do not want to report use tax on your income tax return, or are not required to file California income tax returns, you can complete the use tax return included in this publication. Please note: Seller's holding permits must continue to report and pay their business related use tax liabilities on their sales and use tax returns.

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make check payable to: Board of Equalization mail return and check to: Board of Equalization P.O. Box 942879 Sacramento, Ca 94279-7071
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