Taxation: information returns: vacant commercial real property.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify the exact amount of civil penalties, leaving room for interpretation or future regulation.

Vacant Commercial Real Property Information Returns

This law requires owners of commercial real property in California to register with the state tax department, file annual reports about their properties, and imposes penalties for non-compliance.

What This Bill Does

• Requires owners of commercial real property to register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
• Makes it necessary for these property owners to submit an information report each year by a date set by the department.
• Includes in the annual reports details about whether any buildings or parts of buildings were empty during the previous calendar year.
• Allows extensions for filing if there is good reason, but imposes penalties for not submitting on time.
• Requires the state tax department to post data online showing how many commercial properties are vacant by ZIP code.

Who It Names or Affects

• Owners of commercial real property in California
• The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

Terms To Know

Commercial Property

Buildings or land used for business purposes, like offices or stores.

Information Return

A report that property owners must submit to the government with details about their properties.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much the civil penalty will be.
• It is unclear what happens if a person cannot afford to pay the penalty.
• The provisions of this law will end on January 1, 2031.

Official Summary Text

SB 789, as amended, Menjivar.
Taxation: information returns: vacant commercial real property.
Except as provided, the California Constitution requires that all property be taxed in proportion to its full value and assessed at the same percentage of fair market value. Existing statutory law, the Documentary Transfer Tax Act, authorizes the imposition of a tax by a county or city, as provided, with respect to specified instruments that transfer specified interests in real property. Existing law establishes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for the purpose of administering various taxes.
This bill would require a person, as defined, that owns commercial property, as defined, in this state to register with the department, as provided. The bill would require every person owning commercial real property in this state to file an information return each year by a date determined by the department, as provided. The bill
would require the information return to include specified information, including, among other requirements, whether any buildings or portions of buildings were vacant in the previous calendar year. The bill would authorize extensions of the time for a person to file an information return under specified circumstances, including for good cause. The bill would impose
a civil penalty in an unspecified amount
on any person who fails or refuses to timely furnish a return required by its
provisions, as provided.
provisions a penalty of $100 per commercial property
that the person fails or refuses to timely furnish the information return.
The
bill, upon appropriation,
bill
would
require that a civil penalty collected under its provisions be used to repay any amounts received as a loan from the General Fund, as provided.
authorize the Director of Finance to make a loan from the General Fund to the department to implement those provisions, and would require any loan to be repaid from revenues from penalties imposed. By authorizing the expenditure of moneys from the General Fund for specified purposes, the bill would create an appropriation.
This bill would require the department to collect information from the
information returns filed pursuant to its provisions and would require the department to annually post on its internet website data aggregated by ZIP Code, including, among other information, the percentage of commercial properties included in information returns required under this part that were vacant in a calendar year.
The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031. The bill would also make findings and declarations related to its provisions.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF