Under regulations adopted by the State Board of Equalization pursuant to the Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law, lease transactions are generally subject to the use tax portion of that tax.
This bill would provide that, with respect to the lease of a motor vehicle, (1) if the lessor is a new motor vehicle dealer, as defined, the place of use for reporting and transmitting any use tax shall be deemed to be the city, city and county, or county in which the lessor’s place of business is located, and (2) if the lessor is not one of those specified persons, but purchases the vehicle from a dealer, the place of use shall be deemed to be the city, city and county, or county in which the place of business of the dealer from whom the lessor purchases the vehicle is located. The bill would make those allocations of use tax in connection with the lease of vehicles applicable for the duration of the lease. The bill would further provide that, in all other cases, the use tax shall be allocated to the countywide pool of the county in which the lessee of the vehicle resides. The bill would specify that these provisions do not apply if the dealer or leasing company entering into the lease agreement is located outside of California, except as specified.