Section 42100 Of Part 21.1. Local Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act From California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 2. >> Part 21.1.
42100
. (a) This part shall be known and may be cited as the Local
Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Maintaining effective and efficient communications services,
911 emergency systems, communications-related public policy programs
to promote universal service, and various local programs across the
state benefit all persons with access to the telecommunications
system.
(2) Providers of end-use communications services, including
providers of mobile voice telecommunications services, which the
Federal Communications Commission terms mobile telephony service, are
required to collect and remit utility users taxes and local 911 or
access charges (local charges) imposed by over 150 cities and
counties in California on end-users of such mobile telephony
services, as required by existing state or local law.
(3) Local charges on telecommunication services represent an
important source of tax revenue for many cities and counties and are
used to pay for such essential governmental services as public
safety, streets, parks, libraries, senior centers, and many more.
(4) Prepaid mobile telephony services are an important and growing
segment of the communications industry. Prepaid mobile telephony
services, unlike postpaid mobile telephony services, are frequently
sold by a third-party seller that is not the provider of mobile
telephony services, and collecting local charges from prepaid
consumers of mobile telephony services at the time of the retail
transaction is necessary and the most efficient and competitively
neutral means for the collection of those local charges.
(5) The collection of prepaid mobile telephony services by
third-party sellers and the remittance of those local charges to the
board involves administrative costs and responsibilities that are
unique to prepaid mobile telephony services, and therefore justify
unique reimbursement and tax rate simplification measures, which are
fair and reasonable.
(c) It is a matter of statewide concern that the local charges for
local prepaid mobile telephony services be collected in a uniform
manner in order for the collection to be fair and uniform on a
statewide basis.
(d) It is the intention of the Legislature that this part shall
preempt the provisions pertaining to the tax or charge rate, base,
and method of collection contained in all local ordinances, rules, or
regulations concerning the imposition of a local charge upon the
consumption of prepaid mobile telephony services to the extent those
provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of this part and Part
21 (commencing with Section 42001). It is not the intent of the
Legislature to otherwise preempt, limit, or affect the general
authority of local jurisdictions to impose a utility user tax, local
911 charge, or any other local charges.