Tax Guide for Sellers of Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services (MTS) and Telecommunication Service Suppliers
Local Jurisdictions

Local Jurisdictions Must Contract with CDTFA

Under the Local Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act (42100-42111), cities and counties (local jurisdictions) that have an ordinance that applies its local charges to retail sales of prepaid mobile telephony services (MTS) must contract with us in order to receive the local revenue charges. These local revenue charges include utility user taxes (UUT), local 911 charges and local 988 charges (separate from the 911 surcharge and 988 surcharge required under the Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge [ETUS] Act), and any other local charges imposed on consumers of prepaid MTS.

If the local jurisdiction does not contract with us, local charges imposed upon retail sales of prepaid MTS will not be collected by sellers and the local jurisdictions will not receive local charge revenue.

How to Contract with CDTFA

To contract with us for collection of the local charge revenue imposed on consumers of prepaid MTS, please contact our Local Revenue Branch at 1-916-324-3000, or by email.

We will send you a contract package which includes:

A Local Charge Agreement for state collection and administration of local charges,
A Certification of Ordinance that applies to local charges, and
A Resolution to Authorize Representative(s) for the local jurisdiction.

We will also provide you with instructions for the package and a checklist of the required documents that must be submitted to us.

New Charges or Rate Increase

The local jurisdiction must contract with us on or before December 1 for collection of the local charge revenue imposed on prepaid MTS to begin April 1 of the next calendar year.

If a local jurisdiction contracting with us is establishing a new local charge or increasing an existing local charge, the local jurisdiction must provide written notice to us on or before December 1 for collection of the local charge revenue at the new rate to begin April 1 of the next calendar year.

Decrease in Rate or Expiring Charges

If a local charge is scheduled to decrease in rate or expire, following the local jurisdiction’s contract with us, the local jurisdiction should notify us in writing at least 110 days prior to the date the rate will change.

If advance written notice is provided less than 110 days prior to the specified date of decrease in rate or expiration, the change will become operative on the first day of the calendar quarter commencing more than 60 days after the specified date of the rate change.

Local Charge Rates Posted on the CDTFA Website

To find the current local charge rate for each local jurisdiction, please visit our 911 Surcharge Rate, 988 Surcharge, and Local Charge Rates for Sellers of Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services (MTS) webpage.

Local Rates Charged by Sellers

Sellers of prepaid MTS are responsible for charging and collecting the proper local charge rate. This is in addition to the 911 surcharge and 988 surcharge that sellers are required to collect under the ETUS Act. For more rate information, see 911 Surcharge, 988 Surcharge, and Local Charge Rates.

Inaccurate Rate Posted on the CDTFA Website

If the local charge rates posted on our website are inaccurate, including if a rate has decreased, or expired, or if the local jurisdiction did not provide advance written notice, the local jurisdiction must notify us in writing about the inaccuracy. The corrected rate for the local jurisdiction will become operative on the first day of the calendar quarter beginning more than 60 days from the date we receive the written notification.

Local Utility User Tax (UUT) rates

The Utility User Tax (UUT) rate includes tiered rates under the Local Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act as follows:

UUT Rate in Ordinance	New UUT Rate for Prepaid MTS
Less than 1.5 percent	0 percent
1.5 percent or more, but less than 2.5 percent	1.5 percent
2.5 percent or more, but less than 3.5 percent	2.5 percent
3.5 percent or more, but less than 4.5 percent	3.5 percent
4.5 percent or more, but less than 5.5 percent	4.5 percent
5.5 percent or more, but less than 6.5 percent	5.5 percent
6.5 percent or more, but less than 7.5 percent	6.5 percent
7.5 percent or more, but less than 9.0 percent	7.5 percent
9.0 percent or more	9.0 percent

Local 911 Charges (Separate from the 911 Surcharge and 988 Surcharge Required Under the ETUS Act)

The rates for local 911 charges and local 988 charges for access to communication services, emergency communication systems, or suicide and crisis lifelines specified in a local jurisdiction's ordinance will be used to determine the effective rate for the local 911 charges and local 988 charges under the Local Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services Collection Act as follows:

If the rate under the ordinance is less than one dollar ($1) per month per access line, including any adjustments for inflation, the new rate is zero percent.
If the rate under the ordinance is a specified percentage rate or one dollar ($1) or more per month per access line, including any adjustments for inflation, the new rate will be either the specified percentage or the rate obtained by dividing the dollar amount by 50, rounded to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent. For example, if the rate in the ordinance per month per access line is:

One dollar ($1); the rate is calculated as 2% ($1 ÷ 50 = 0.02; rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percent = 0.02 or 2%).
One dollar and twenty-eight cents; the rate is calculated as 2.6% ($1.28 ÷ 50 = 0.0256 or 2.56%; 0.0256 or 2.56% rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percent is 0.026 or 2.6%).
One dollar and fifty cents ($1.50), the rate is calculated as 3% ($1.50 ÷ 50 = 0.03; rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one percent = 0.03 or 3%).

CDTFA Administration and Collection Costs

Each local jurisdiction contracting with us for collection of the local charges imposed on the consumption of prepaid MTS will be responsible for its pro rata share of our collection and administrative costs following subdivision (e) of Revenue and Taxation code (RTC) section 42020. Local charges collected by us will be transmitted quarterly to the local jurisdictions, less payments for refunds and our costs.

Local Jurisdiction Responsibilities

It is each local jurisdiction’s responsibility to contract with us for the collection of the local charges imposed on the consumption of prepaid MTS by submitting the required documents to us. For more information, see How to contract with CDTFA. In addition, local jurisdictions are responsible for:

Defending claims regarding the validity of their ordinance.
Interpreting any provision of the ordinance (expect those specifically superseded by statute).
Responding to consumer claims for refunds.
Refunding taxes when ordered to under the local ordinance.
Reallocating local charges that were collected in error for up to two past quarters from the date of knowledge.
Enforcing and auditing the collection and payment of local charges on prepaid MTS by service suppliers (see Telecommunication Service Suppliers section).
Their pro rata share of our collection and administrative costs, deducted from our quarterly transmittals to the local jurisdiction.

Tax Guide for Sellers of Prepaid Mobile Telephony Services (MTS) and Telecommunication Service Suppliers Local Jurisdictions