Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Return

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) collects the covered electronic waste recycling fee (e-waste fee) imposed by the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (Act) (Public Resources Code section 42460, et seq.).

Effective January 1, 2005, the Act requires you (the retailer or lessor) to collect a fee when you sell or lease of “covered electronic devices” (CEDs) to consumers, which are video display products that the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has determined to be hazardous when discarded. Refer to the Sales or Leases Subject to the Fee section below for more information.

The consumer (customer) owes the fee on the purchase, but you must collect the fee when you make a retail sale or lease of a CED by any means, including in a store, by mail order, or over the Internet. Sales to the U.S. government are not exempt from the fee. You may retain three percent of the e-waste fee collected as reimbursement for all costs associated with the fee collection.

Filing Requirements

Every retailer or lessor who makes retail sale or lease of a CED by any means, including in a store, by mail order, or over the Internet, is required to file an Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Return and Summary by Location schedule via electronic media, on or before the last day of the month following the reporting period for which the fees are due. All sales of CEDs from all locations must be reported on one return, per section 55040 of the Fee Collection Procedure Law. You are required to file a return even if you did not have any reportable activity during the reporting period.

Remittance for the amount due must be submitted by the due date of the return. A copy of the return and schedule should be retained on the licensed 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)

Sales or Leases Subject to the Fee

All retail sales or leases of a new or refurbished video display product that has a screen size of more than 4 inches measured diagonally are subject to the e-waste fee and must be collected, unless the fee was paid to a registered vendor and a statement was provided on your customer’s invoice that the fee has been paid on their behalf. For purposes of calculating the fee, use the viewable screen size. According to regulations adopted by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (Cal. Code Regs. Title 22, sections 66260.10 and 66260.201) the following devices are Covered Electronic Devices (CEDs) that are subject to the fee.

• Televisions (excludes projection televisions)
  • Cathode ray tube (CRT)
  • Liquid crystal display (LCD) (excluding LCD projection televisions)
  • Light-emitting diode (LED)
  • Plasma (excluding plasma projection televisions)
  • Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens (effective July 1, 2022)
• Desktop computer monitor
  • LCD/LED
  • OLED (effective July 1, 2022)
• Laptop computers
  • LCD/LED (excluding tablets, effective July 1, 2022)
  • OLED (effective July 1, 2022)
• LCD/LED or OLED containing tablets (effective July 1, 2022))
• Bare CRT or any other CRT device(includes computer monitors)
• Portable DVD players with LCD/LED screens
• LCD/LED Smart Displays (effective July 1, 2022)

Refurbished is defined as a CED that the manufacturer has tested and returned to a condition that meets factory specifications, is repackaged, and labeled as refurbished.

Exclusions from the Fee

A retailer or lessor does not have to collect the fee if the CED is:

• Used and not refurbished.
• Part of a motor vehicle, as defined by Vehicle Code section 415, or a component part of a motor vehicle assembled by or for a vehicle manufacturer or franchised dealer. This includes replacement parts for use in a motor vehicle.
• Contained within, or a part of a piece of industrial, commercial, or medical equipment, including monitoring or control equipment.
• Contained within a clothes washer, clothes dryer, refrigerator, refrigerator and freezer, microwave oven, conventional oven or range, dishwasher, room air conditioner, dehumidifier, or air purifier.
• A cell phone, including smartphone with screen size greater than four inches.
• An eReader/eBook or eInk.
• Projection televisions (LCD or plasma only).

In addition, the following CED sales are not subject to the fee:

• Sold for resale.
• Sold to American Indians on Indian reservations.
• Sales of products you ship directly to a location outside California, if the transaction is not subject to California sales or use tax. (Note: If the consumer takes possession of the product in California, the fee applies).

You must maintain records to document any sale not subject to the fee. Review publication 103, Sales for Resale, for information on sales for resale and publication 101, Sales Delivered Outside California, for information on sales of products shipped directly to locations outside California.

Reporting CEDs 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 Sold or Leased. Enter the number of new or refurbished CEDs sold or leased during the reporting period for each location. All sales and leases should be reported whether the CED is subject to the fee or not subject to the fee due to an exclusion.

Number Self-Consumed. Enter the number of CEDs that were self-consumed (purchased without payment of fee for your own use or withdrawn from resale inventory for business or personal use, including donated CEDs) for each location.

Do you have additional e-waste recycling fee locations not listed above?

If you have out of state and/or additional e-waste recycling fee locations (new sites) that are not listed, select Yes.
If you do not have additional locations (including out of state locations), select No.

Reporting CEDs for New Site(s)

Click the Add a Record hyperlink to register new e-waste recycling fee sites (including out of state locations) to your account and report the number of CEDs sold or leased and the number of CEDs self-consumed during this reporting period.

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

Street. Enter the street number and street name for the location being reported.

City. Enter the name of the city for the location being reported.

Zip. Enter the five (5) digit ZIP code for the location being reported.

Click Here to Verify Address. Click the button to verify the inputted address.

Country. Select the name of the country for the location being reported.

State. If the country is USA, select the name of the state for the location being reported and click the Click here to verify address hyperlink.

Once all the required address information is entered and verified, click the Save button.

# Sold or Leased. Enter the number of new or refurbished CEDs sold or leased for the location being reported. All sales and leases should be reported whether the CED is subject to the fee or not subject to the fee due to an exclusion.

# Self-Consumed. Enter the number of CEDs that were self-consumed (purchased without payment of fee for your own use or withdrawn from resale inventory for business or personal use, including donated CEDs) for the location being reported.

Once all the required information is inputted, click the Add button.

CEDs Excluded from the Fee

Do you have items not subject to the fee?

If you have items not subject to the fee, select Yes.

If all items reported are subject to the fee, select No, then Next.

Items sold in interstate or foreign commerce. Enter the number of items sold in interstate or foreign commerce.

Items sold to other retailers for the purposes of resale. Enter the number of items sold to other retailers for the purposes of resale.

Other. Enter the number of other items that are excluded from the fee.

Other Explanation. Enter an explanation to why the other items are excluded from the fee.

Total number of items excluded from the fee. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total number of items subject to the fee. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Gross Fees Due

Enter the number of CEDs by category for which you owe a fee in column A. Number.

Enter number of CEDs more than 4 inches, less than 15 inches. Enter the number of CEDs that are more than 4 inches, but less than 15 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 15 inches, less than 35 inches. Enter the number of CEDs that are 15 inches, but less than 35 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 35 inches or more. Enter the number of CEDs that are 35 inches or more.

Total. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total number of items subject to the fee. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Returned Merchandise

Enter the number of CEDs in each category in column A. Number, for which you refunded the e-waste fee to your customers for merchandise returned on sales made on or after January 1, 2020.

Note: Report returned merchandise sold prior to January 1, 2020 in the Fee Adjustment section, Fee Credit Adjustment Worksheet on the next screen.

Enter number of CEDs more than 4 inches, less than 15 inches. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are more than 4 inches, but less than 15 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 15 inches, less than 35 inches. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are 15 inches, but less than 35 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 35 inches or more. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are 35 inches or more.

Total Returned Merchandise Credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Do you have adjustments for fee-paid purchases resold or for sales and purchases made at a previous fee rate?

If you have adjustments for fee-paid purchases resold or for sales and purchases made at a previous fee rate, select Yes and in the next field, select the period the original sale took place.

If you do not have adjustments for fee-paid purchases resold or for sales and purchases made at a previous fee rate, select No.

Click Next, to complete the Fee Credit Adjustment Worksheet or to review the Fee Adjustments summary page.

Fee Credit Adjustment Worksheet

Fee-Paid Purchases Resold Credit

Enter the number of fee-paid CEDs that were resold in each category in column A. Number.

Enter number of CEDs more than 4 inches, less than 15 inches. Enter the number of fee-paid CEDs that are more than 4 inches, but less than 15 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 15 inches, less than 35 inches. Enter the number of fee-paid CEDs that are 15 inches, but less than 35 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 35 inches or more. Enter the number of fee-paid CEDs that are 35 inches or more.

Total Fee-Paid Purchases Resold Credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Returned Merchandise Credit

Enter number of CEDs more than 4 inches, less than 15 inches. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are more than 4 inches, but less than 15 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 15 inches, less than 35 inches. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are 15 inches, but less than 35 inches.

Enter number of CEDs 35 inches or more. Enter the number of returned CEDs that are 35 inches or more.

Total Returned Merchandise Credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total Fee Credit Adjustment

Total Fee-Paid Purchases Resold Credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total Returned Merchandise Credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total Fee Credit Adjustment. The system will automatically calculate this field.

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

If you have collected more fee than what is due (excess fee) for this reporting period, select Yes and enter the amount of excess fee collected.

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

• Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Guide
• Publication 95, Electronic Waste Recycling Fee
• Online Return Filing Tutorial