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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Sales And Use Tax Law
Revenue and Taxation Code
Division 2. Other Taxes
Part 1. Sales and Use Taxes
Chapter 1. General Provisions and Definitions
Section 6010
6010. "Purchase." "Purchase" means and includes:
(a) Any transfer of title or possession, exchange, or barter, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, of tangible personal property for a consideration. "Transfer of possession" includes only transactions found by the board to be in lieu of a transfer of title, exchange, or barter.
(b) When performed outside this state or when the customer gives a resale certificate pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 6091) of Chapter 2, the producing, fabricating, processing, printing, or imprinting of tangible personal property for a consideration for consumers who furnish either directly or indirectly the materials used in the producing, fabricating, processing, printing, or imprinting.
(c) A transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred but the seller retains the title as security for the payment of the price.
(d) A transfer for a consideration of tangible personal property which has been produced, fabricated, or printed to the special order of the customer, or of any publication.
(e) Any lease of tangible personal property in any manner or by any means whatsoever, for consideration, except a lease of:
(1) Motion pictures or animated motion pictures, including television, films, and tapes.
(2) Linen supplies and similar articles when an essential part of the lease agreement is the furnishing of the recurring service of laundering or cleaning the articles.
(3) Household furnishings with a lease of the living quarters in which they are to be used.
(4) Mobile transportation equipment for use in transportation of persons or property as defined in Section 6023.
(5) Tangible personal property leased in substantially the same form as acquired by the lessor or leased in substantially the same form as acquired by a transferor, as to which the lessor or transferor has paid sales tax reimbursement or has paid use tax measured by the purchase price of the property. For purposes of this paragraph, "transferor" shall mean the following:
(A) A person from whom the lessor acquired the property in a transaction described in subdivision (b) of Section 6006.5.
(B) A decedent from whom the lessor acquired the property by will or the laws of succession.
(6) A mobilehome, as defined in Sections 18008 and 18211 of the Health and Safety Code, other than a mobilehome originally sold new prior to July 1, 1980, and not subject to local property taxation.
(7) Paragraphs (1) and (5) and Section 6094.1 shall not apply to rentals or leases of video cassettes, video tapes, and video discs for private use under which the lessee or renter does not obtain or acquire the right to license, broadcast, exhibit, or reproduce the video cassette, video tape, or video disc.
History—Stats. 1945, p. 1723, operative July 1, 1945, rearranged wording for clarification. Stats. 1959, p. 3130, in effect September 18, 1959, added "of title or possession" and "lease or rental" to the first sentence of (a), added the second sentence to (a), added (b), and relettered (c) and (d). Stats. 1965, p. 5445 (First Extra Session) operative August 1, 1965, added "or" and deleted "lease or rental" from the first sentence and " lease or rental " from the second sentence, and added (e). Stats. 1966, p. 191, in effect April 26, 1966, operative as to all transactions occurring after July 1, 1965 (except that retroactive operation shall not affect the states right to any tax which vested prior to the effective date), added "or leased in substantially the same form as acquired by a transferor," "or transferor", and the definition of transferor to (e)(4). Stats. 1967, p. 2721, in effect November 8, 1967, renumbered former (e)(4) as (e)(5) and added new (e)(4). Stats. 1970, p. 2133, in effect November 23, 1970, reworded (e)(4). Stats. 1971, p. 3833, operative January 1, 1972, added parenthetical reference to section 6091 in (b). Deleted the words "for-hire" following "equipment for use in", made reference to section 6023 and deleted examples of mobile transportation equipment in (e)(4). Stats. 1978, Ch. 1211, effective January 1, 1979, in (e)(5) deleted "or transferor has paid sales tax reimbursement pursuant to Section 6052 or" following "as to which the lessor" and substituted "establishes to the satisfaction of the board that the lessor or his transferor acquired the property in a transaction that was a retail sale with respect to which the retailer has reported and paid the sales tax to the board or as to which the lessor or the transferor". Stats. 1980, Ch. 285, operative July 1, 1980, added (e) (6). Stats. 1980, Ch. 1068, effective September 26, 1980 deleted "establishes to the satisfaction of the board that the lessor" following "transferor as to which the lessor" and substituted "lessor or transferor has paid sales tax" for "retailer has reported and paid the sales tax to the board" following "with respect to which the" in (e) (5). Stats. 1982, Ch. 1589, in effect January 1, 1983, substituted "transferor has paid sales tax reimbursement" for "his transferor … the transferor" before "has paid use tax" in subsection (5) of subdivision (e). Stats. 1983, Ch. 323, in effect July 21, 1983, operative September 1, 1983, added subsection (7) to subdivision (e). Stats. 1983, Ch. 1102, in effect September 27, 1983, added the balance of the first sentence after "videodiscs" in subdivision (e)(7). Stats. 1987, Ch. 915, in effect September 21, 1987, in subdivision (a), deleted comma after "Transfer of possession"; in subdivision (b), deleted "of this part" after "Chapter 2"; in subdivision (e)(1), deleted "picture" after "Motion" and substituted "pictures or animated motion pictures"; in subdivision (e)(5), deleted "hereof, transferor" following "For purposes" and substituted "of this paragraph, transferor "; and in subdivision (e)(7), inserted spaces after "video.".
Note.—Stats. 1976, Ch. 1384, operative September 30, 1976, provides in part: "Sale" and "purchase", for the purposes of Part 1 (commencing with Section 6001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, do not include any transfer of title of tangible personal property consistituting any project or pollution control facility to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority by any participating party, nor any lease or transfer of title of tangible personal property constituting any project or pollution control facility by the authority to any participating party, when the transfer or lease is made pursuant to Division 27 (commencing with Section 44500) of the Health and Safety Code. The terms "project", "pollution control facility", and "participating party" as used in this section have the meanings ascribed to them in Sections 44506 and 44508 of the Health and Safety Code.
Supplies consumed in repairs.—Sales of supplies to repair shops were taxable retail sales even when the repair shops made a separate charge itemized as "paints and materials" for the purpose of recovering their costs of supplies consumed during the repairs. The repair shops did not furnish the supplies to their customers but consumed them in making the repairs and thus did not purchase the supplies for resale. Modern Paint and Body Supply, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 703.
Fixtures.—The Board properly applied Regulation 1521 in determining that the signs at issue were fixtures. Richard Boyd Industries, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 706.