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The August edition of the Economic Perspective, produced by BOE research staff, further documents that less than 1 percent of Californians currently report use tax on their income tax returns and shows that use tax payments are heavily concentrated in high income households, with these payments varying significantly according to both household income group and geography.
Use tax is owed when a consumer makes a purchase from an out-of-state retailer who does not collect California tax. It was established to eliminate the price advantage out-of-state retailers would have over California businesses that collect and send sales tax to the BOE.
When the out-of-state retailer does not collect the tax, the consumer is responsible to make the use tax payment directly to the state.
Since 2004, consumers have had the option of reporting and paying their use tax due by completing a line on their state income tax form.
“The use tax line is an important tool for voluntary use tax compliance,” Board Member Betty T. Yee said. “Meanwhile, the low rate of consumer compliance overall points to the need to pursue multiple efforts to promote use tax compliance so that all retail purchases – from both online and store front retailers – are treated on an equal basis.”
A convenient way for individuals to pay use taxes is to report their liabilities on the line provided on personal income tax forms. Data from the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) indicate that California households paid about $10.4 million in use tax payments on their personal income tax returns related to calendar year 2009 liabilities.
Board of Equalization research staff tabulated these data for the state as a whole and for the ten most populous counties in the state by income class for four broad income classes.
The statewide data indicate that:
About 0.42 percent of taxpayers reporting any adjusted gross income (AGI) made use tax payments on their income tax forms.
A larger percentage of relatively high income taxpayers reported use tax payments than did low income households. A little over one percent (1.12 percent) of California taxpayers with AGI over $100,000 reported use taxes, while 0.15 percent of households with AGI less than $30,000 reported use taxes.
Use tax payments averaged $170 per household.
High income households (AGI over $100,000) averaged the highest use tax payments, $311 per household. Low income households (AGI less than $30,000) averaged use tax payments of $76 per household. The lowest average use tax payments were made by households with AGI between $30,000 and $60,000, an average of $70.
High income households (AGI over $100,000) accounted for 40 percent of all households reporting use taxes. These high income taxpayers paid 73 percent of all use taxes reported on personal income tax returns.
Data for the ten most populous counties indicate that:
Percentages of taxpayers with AGI making use tax payments varied from a low of 0.19 percent for both San Bernardino and Riverside counties to a high of 1.03 percent for Santa Clara County. As mentioned earlier, the statewide average was 0.42 percent.
The statewide pattern of greater percentages of high income taxpayers making use tax payments generally held for these counties, with little variation in county rankings.
Use tax payments per household ranged from a low of $77 in San Diego County to a high of $579 in Contra Costa County. Average use tax payments in Fresno and San Bernardino counties were $79, very close to those of San Diego County. (The statewide average was $170 per household.)
High income households (AGI over $100,000) averaged the highest use tax payments in Contra Costa County, $1,180 per household. The second highest reporting for this group was Los Angeles County, $650 per household. The lowest average use tax reported for high income households was Sacramento County, at $91 per household. Fresno County was very close to Sacramento County, averaging $93 per household. (The statewide average for high income households was $311 per household.)
The Economic Perspective newsletter is a quarterly publication produced by the BOE that looks at economic factors of interest or that influence California economic activity.
Board Member Betty T. Yee was elected to her post in November 2006. Her district includes many of California's coastal counties, from Del Norte to Santa Barbara, and includes the entire San Francisco Bay Area.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $50 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.
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The Lakeport Main Street Association and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce urged businesses to be on the lookout for such bills being passed in the community.
According to the US Secret Service, there are important differences between counterfeit and real currency.
They include lifeless, flat portraits on counterfeit bills, unlike the more lifelike portraits on real bills, and the saw-tooth points of the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals, which are clear, distinct and sharp on real bills, while the counterfeit seals may have uneven, blunt or broken saw-tooth points.
On genuine currency, the fine lines in the border are clear and unbroken, while on the counterfeit, the lines in the outer margin and scrollwork may be blurred and indistinct.
The Secret Service said genuine serial numbers have a distinctive style and are evenly spaced, and the serial numbers are printed in the same ink color as the Treasury Seal. On a counterfeit, the serial numbers may differ in color or shade of ink from the Treasury seal, the numbers may not be uniformly spaced or aligned.
The paper of the bills also can be a giveaway.
Genuine currency paper has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout. Often counterfeiters try to simulate these fibers by printing tiny red and blue lines on their paper. However, close inspection reveals that on the counterfeit note the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper.
It is illegal to reproduce the distinctive paper used in the manufacturing of United States currency, the agency reported.
To see comparisons between real and counterfeit bills visit http://www.secretservice.gov/money_detect.shtml.
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The workshops will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 27, Sept. 24 and Oct. 22, at 15642 Armstrong St. in Middletown in the Jazzercise Center (two blocks behind the post office).
The workshops feature hands-on learning using Microsoft Windows.
The first workshop will be “Everything Email” and will focus on using online email accounts, i.e. gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and domain email.
They will discuss ways to get less spam, how to insert attachments and pictures, how to save attachments to folders on your computer, and how to set up free email accounts.
This workshop deals mostly with online email accounts.
For those who use MS Outlook, Outlook Express and the new Windows Live Mail, mark your calendars for Sept. 24 when they will repeat "Everything Email” for Microsoft mail programs.
The third workshop on Oct. 22 will be the “Computer Cleanup Workshop” where attendees will learn how to keep computers running efficiently.
Participants will learn how to disable unneeded programs from starting every time your computer starts, how to clean up junk files, how to use virus programs that don’t slow a computer, how to speed up hard drive and how to upgrade the RAM to boost a computer’s performance up to 90 percent.
The presenter, Mark Rudiger, is the owner of Lake County Websites and Computers and has more than 18 years of experience installing, trouble-shooting, and working with computers.
If you have a laptop, bring it along and connect to the high-speed Internet. If you don’t, you will still get all the same information as Rudiger’s laptop screen will be projected on a 70-inch screen so you can follow along.
Go to www.meetup.com/LCSMGroup to register for this workshop and receive information right in your inbox about upcoming workshops. You can join the group for free with no obligation.
For more information, call Mark Rudiger at 707-987-1923. Each workshop has a $10 admission fee.
Space is limited so please call ahead to reserve your spot.
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“We congratulate Calpine on its 10th consecutive annual lease award. The company has made a strong effort to keep all of its leases in The Geysers geothermal field maintained in a clean and orderly fashion,” said Elena Miller, State Oil & Gas Supervisor and head of the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. “Care is taken to protect the environment, and safety is a priority on the leases as well. Calpine personnel are responsive to requests and work well with our staff. This is a much-deserved award.”
The award was presented at the Aug. 16 Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting to Gevan Reeves, Calpine director of origination. The Sonoma County Supervisors passed and presented a resolution honoring Calpine’s commitment to safety and environmental excellence.
"On behalf of the Board of Supervisors, we congratulate Calpine on their 10th year of recognition by the Department of Conservation,” stated District 4 Supervisor Mike McGuire. “Northern Sonoma County is proud to be the home of the largest series of geothermal plants in the world."
The city of Santa Rosa also passed a Proclamation congratulating Calpine on this award for their environmental stewardship at The Geysers. Since 2003, the City of Santa Rosa has partnered with Calpine for the Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project.
This project, which has received worldwide recognition, is an innovative approach, using water to generate renewable energy.
To date, Calpine has accepted more than 33 billion gallons of tertiary treated wastewater from the City of Santa Rosa’s Subregional Treatment plant.
“I applaud Calpine’s dedicated employees at The Geysers for their exemplary track record of clean, safe lease management as reflected by receiving this honor once again,” said Mike Rogers, Calpine’s Senior Vice President of its Geothermal Region. “Geothermal energy is an inherently clean and reliable alternative for electric generation, and we put forth our best efforts to be good neighbors in the community.”
Examples of innovative programs at The Geysers that benefit the environment include recharge projects in which reclaimed wastewater from local municipalities is pumped into the underground geothermal resource. There the Earth’s heat converts it into steam for electricity production. This provides an environmentally sound wastewater discharge solution for neighboring cities and increases the long-term productivity of The Geysers resource.
Calpine Corporation is the nation’s largest renewable geothermal power producer. The company operates 15 geothermal power plants in The Geysers region of Northern California and is capable of generating up to 725 megawatts of green energy around the clock. Calpine’s operations at The Geysers accounts for about 20 percent of the green power (non-hydro) produced in California. Available every minute of every day and posing none of the grid integration challenges of other renewable resources, these plants are one reason Calpine is a generation ahead, today.
To learn more about The Geysers and about geothermal energy, visit the Cartwright Geothermal Visitors Center in Middletown, call 1-866-GEYSERS or visit www.geysers.com.