Bill Text: CA SB696 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Bill 696

Introduced

Bill Title: Sales and Use Tax Law: exemptions: firefighting equipment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-24 - Read first time. [SB696 Detail]

Download: California-2025-SB696-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 696

Introduced by Senator Alvarado-Gil

February 21, 2025

An act to add and repeal Section 6356.8 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 696, as introduced, Alvarado-Gil. Sales and Use Tax Law: exemptions: firefighting equipment.

Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state or 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. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes.

This bill, on and after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, would exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, firefighting apparatus, equipment, or specialized vehicles purchased for use by a fire department, including an all-volunteer fire department, or a fire district.

Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements.

This bill also would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure.

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 laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws.

Existing law requires the state to 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.

This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 6356.8 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read:

6356.8.

(a) On and after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, there are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, firefighting apparatus, equipment, or specialized vehicles purchased for use by a fire department, including an all-volunteer fire department, or a fire district.

(b) (1) For the purposes of complying with Section 41, the Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(A) The specific goal that the exemption will achieve is to reduce the financial burden placed on local fire departments, thereby allowing for more efficient use of resources by those departments.

(B) Detailed performance indicators for the Legislature to use to measure whether the exemption meets the goal described in subparagraph (A) are the following:

(i) The number of taxpayers exempting purchases from tax pursuant to this section.

(ii) The total dollar value of sales exempted from tax pursuant to this section.

(2) On or before April 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration shall analyze the performance indicators in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) and shall submit a report of its findings to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.

Notwithstanding Section 2230 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, no appropriation is made by this act and the state shall not reimburse any local agency for any sales and use tax revenues lost by it under this act.