215.1.
(a) All buildings, and so much of the real property on which the buildings are situated as may be required for the convenient use and occupation of the buildings, used exclusively for charitable purposes, owned by a veterans’ organization that has been chartered by the Congress of the United States, organized and operated for charitable purposes, and exempt from federal income tax as an organization described in Section 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code when the same are used solely and exclusively for the purpose of the organization, if not conducted for profit and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private individual or member thereof, shall be exempt from taxation.(b) The exemption provided for in this section shall apply to the property of all organizations meeting the requirements of this section, subdivision (b) of Section 4 of Article XIII of the California Constitution, and paragraphs (1) to
(4), inclusive, (6), and (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 214.
(c) (1) The exemption specified by subdivision (a) shall not be denied to a property on the basis that the property is used for fraternal, lodge, or social club purposes.
(2) With regard to this subdivision, the Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(A) The exempt activities of a veterans’ organization as described in subdivision (a) qualitatively differ from the exempt activities of other nonprofit entities that use property for fraternal, lodge, or social club purposes in that the exempt purpose of the veterans’ organization is to conduct programs to
perpetuate the memory of deceased veterans and members of the Armed Forces and to comfort their survivors, to conduct programs for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, to sponsor or participate in activities of a patriotic nature, and to provide social and recreational activities for their members.
(B) In light of this distinction, the use of real property by a veterans’ organization as described in subdivision (a), for fraternal, lodge, or social club purposes is central to that organization’s exempt purposes and activities.
(C) In light of the factors set forth in subparagraphs (A) and (B), the use of real property by a veterans’ organization as described in subdivision (a) for fraternal, lodge,
or social club purposes, constitutes the exclusive use of that property for a charitable purpose within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 4 of Article XIII of the California Constitution.
(d) The exemption provided for in this section shall not apply to any portion of a property that consists of a bar where alcoholic beverages are served. The portion of the property ineligible for the veterans’ organization exemption shall be that area used primarily to prepare and serve alcoholic beverages.
(e) An organization that files a claim for the exemption provided for in this section shall file with the assessor a valid organizational clearance certificate issued pursuant to Section 254.6.
(f) This exemption shall be known as the “veterans’ organization exemption.”