Sales and Use Tax Law: exemptions: firefighting equipment.

Plain English Breakdown

Official source material did not provide specific details about including goals, performance indicators, or data collection requirements for the tax exemption.

Firefighting Equipment Tax Exemption

The bill creates an exemption from state sales and use taxes for firefighting equipment purchased by fire departments, including volunteer ones, but not for local or special tax rates.

What This Bill Does

• Exempts firefighting apparatus, equipment, and specialized vehicles from state sales and use taxes when bought by fire departments or fire protection districts between July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2031.
• Does not apply this exemption to local sales and use taxes imposed by cities or counties.
• Does not apply this exemption to special state sales and use tax rates used for funding local governments.

Who It Names or Affects

• Fire departments
• Volunteer fire departments
• Fire protection districts

Terms To Know

Tax Exemption

A rule that allows certain items or services to be bought without paying a tax.

Local Sales and Use Tax

Taxes collected by cities, counties, or other local governments on the sale of goods and services.

Limits and Unknowns

• The exemption does not apply to local sales taxes.
• The exemption does not cover special state tax rates used for funding local government projects.

Official Summary Text

SB 696, as amended, 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 July 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, as defined, purchased by a fire department, including an all-volunteer fire department, as defined, or a fire protection 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.
This bill
would provide that the exemption created by the bill does not apply to local sales and use taxes or transactions and use taxes.
Existing law imposes or dedicates certain state sales and use tax rates for local funding, including through the Local Revenue Fund 2011.
This bill would provide that the exemption created by the bill does not apply to those state sales and use tax rates imposed or dedicated for local government funding, including those rates for which revenues are deposited into the Local Revenue Fund 2011.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF