California Tire Fee Return

General Information

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) administers the California Tire Fee program in cooperation with the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and the California Air Resources Board(CARB). The California Tire Fee applies to the retail purchase of new tires intended for use with, but sold separately from, on-road or off-road motor vehicles, trailers, motorized equipment, construction equipment, or farm equipment. The fee also applies to new tires (including the spare) sold with the retail purchase of new or used motor vehicles, trailers, construction equipment, or farm equipment. Visit our Tax Rates — Special Taxes and Fees page to view current and historical California Tire Fees.

For more detailed list of tires that are subject to the tire fee and general exemptions to the tire fee, visit our Tax Guide for California Tire Fee, Industry Topics page.

Filing Requirements

You must register with CDTFA, collect the tire fee, file a return, and pay the fee to CDTFA if you are any of the following:

  • California retailer that sells new tires, including new tires on new or used motor vehicles, farm equipment, construction equipment, or trailers drawn upon a highway or road; or

    Note: Beginning January 1, 2022, a retailer includes a marketplace facilitator who sells new tires through a marketplace. Please review Tax Guide for Marketplace Facilitator Act for more information.
  • California retailer (lessor) that leases/rents new or used motor vehicles, farm equipment, or construction equipment that include new tires; or
  • Purchaser (consumer) who purchases new tires for personal or business use, but does not pay the tire fee at the time of purchase, including a:
    • Purchaser (consumer) that purchases a new tire from an out-of-state seller that does not charge the tire fee.
    • Retailer who becomes a purchaser (consumer) by removing new tires from inventory for purposes other than retail sale or resale or by renting, for periods of four months or less (for example, short-term car rental companies), for use with motor vehicles, trailers, farm equipment, or construction equipment on which new tires were mounted (including the spare).

You may file your CDTFA-501-TF, California Tire Fee Return, and pay the fee online. The return and payment are due on or before the 15th day of the calendar month following the reporting period. The return must be filed for each reporting period even if there were no transactions to report. A copy of the return must be retained on the premises for verification by CDTFA auditors.

Penalty and Interest

The penalty for filing a late return and/or late payment is ten percent of the amount due for the period. Interest also applies to late payments for each month or fraction of a month that the payment is late. (Fee Collection Procedures Law section 55042)

Summary by Location (Schedule A)

Reporting Tires for Registered Sites

The Summary by Location schedule automatically prefills locations based on the sites that are registered with your related Sales and Use Tax account.

Number of New Tires Sold or Self-Consumed. Enter the number of new tires sold or self-consumed for each location during this reporting period.

Do you have additional tire fee locations not listed above?

If you have out-of-state or additional tire fee locations (new sites) not listed, select Yes, then Next.

If you do not have additional locations (including out-of-state locations), select No, then Next.

Reporting Tires for Unregistered Sites

To register new tire fee sites (including out-of-state locations) that are not listed on your California Tire Fee account, select Add a Record and enter the requested information, including the number of new tires sold or self-consumed during this reporting period.

Note: If you have a new retail location in California, please add the business location to your sales and use tax account. To add a business location, select your sales and use tax account from your online account homepage, and under the I Want To section, select the More option and then select Register a New Location to add a new location.

Country. Auto populated to USA.

Street. Enter the location's street number and street name.

Street 2. If you need additional space, enter the rest of the street information in this field.

Unit Type. Select the unit type. (if applicable)

Unit. Enter the unit number. (if applicable)

City. Enter the location's city.

State. Select the location's state. Defaulted to California.

ZIP Code. Enter the location's five digit ZIP code.

Validate Address. Select the Validate Address button to verify the inputted address.

Number of New Tires Sold or Self-Consumed. Enter the number of new tires sold or self-consumed at this location during this reporting period.

Once you have completed the information for the record, select Add to save and return to the Tire Fee Unregistered Sites screen. To add additional sites, select Add a Record or select Next to continue.

Excess Fee Collected

Did you collect more fee than what is due (excess fee)?

If you collected more tire fee from your customers than the amount due (excess fee) for this reporting period, select Yes and enter the amount of excess tire fee collected in the Excess fee collected field.

If you did not over collect for this reporting period, select No.

Note: Excess (too much) tire fee collected can occur in the following situations:

  • When the tire fee is computed on a transaction which is not subject to the tire fee.
  • When the tire fee is computed using a rate higher than the rate imposed by law.
  • When mathematical or clerical errors result in an overstatement of the tire fee on a billing.

Resources