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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee Regulations
California Code of Regulations
Title 18. Public Revenues
Division 2. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration – Business Taxes
Chapter 1.5. Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee
Article 1. General Provisions and Definitions
Regulation 1212
Regulation 1212. Liability for Fee.
Reference: Sections 50107, 50109, and 50159 Revenue and Taxation Code; and Sections 25299.41 and 25299.43 Health and Safety Code.
(a) The fee is imposed upon the owner of an underground storage tank for each gallon of petroleum placed into the tank. The owner of the tank is liable for payment of the fee regardless of whether the owner is the operator of the underground storage tank and is liable for the fee even if the owner and operator have entered into an agreement that requires the operator to pay the fee to the board.
(b) The fee is due regardless of whether the fee has previously been paid for gallons of petroleum that were removed from an underground storage tank and placed into another underground storage tank or redeposited into the same tank in which they were previously stored.
(c) An owner is liable for the fee on all gallons placed in the underground storage tank(s) he or she owns. Where the owner requires a certain brand of fuel to be placed in a tank and the operator also places a different brand of fuel in the tank, the owner is liable for the fee on the gallons of both brands of fuel, even if placing fuel of a different brand in the tank violates the lease between the operator and owner.
(d) An owner is liable for the fee even though the owner claims he or she did not know the fee was due or was unable to obtain information from an operator as to the gallons placed into the underground storage tank(s). As provided by subdivision (c) of Section 50159 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, the board may provide to the feepayer otherwise confidential information obtained from the operator of an underground storage tank to the extent that this information is necessary for assessment, administration, and verification of the fee.
History— Adopted October 6, 1999, effective January 8, 2000.
Amended May 31, 2012, effective July 10, 2012. Replaced "fee payer" with "feepayer" in the second sentence of subdivision (d) of the regulation.