Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Return

We administer the covered electronic waste recycling (eWaste) 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 video display devices (VDDs) 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 VDD 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 keep three percent of the eWaste 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 VDD by any means, including in a store, by mail order, or over the Internet, is required to electronically file an Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Return, on or before the last day of the month, following the reporting period for which the fees are due. All sales of VDDs 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.

You must submit payment for the amount due by the due date of the return. You must keep a copy of the return on the licensed premises for verification by our auditors.

Penalty and Interest

The penalty for filing a late return 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 VDD that has a screen size of more than 4 inches measured diagonally are subject to the eWaste 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 VDDs 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 VDD that the manufacturer has tested and returned to a condition that meets factory specifications, is repackaged, and labeled as refurbished.

Exemptions from the Fee

A retailer or lessor does not have to collect the fee if the VDD 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 VDD 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.

Enter the total number of new or refurbished Video Display Devices (VDDs) sold or leased during this filing period. This number represents the total number of new or refurbished VDDs that were sold or leased during this filing period.

Enter the total number of VDDs that were self-consumed (for example, VDDs removed from inventory for business or personal use) during this filing period. This number represents the total number of VDDs that were self-consumed.

Total number of VDDs. The system will automatically calculate this field.

VDDs Exempt 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 the items you 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 exempt from the fee.

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

Total number of items exempt 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 VDDs by category for which you owe a fee in column A. Number.

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

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

Enter number of VDDs 35 inches or more. Enter the number of VDDs 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.

Total gross fee due. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Do you have any adjustments to make where the original transaction(s) occurred during this filing period? (fee-paid purchases resold prior to use or returned taxable merchandise)

If you have any adjustments to make where the original transaction occurred during this filing period, select Yes.

If you do not have any adjustments to make where the original transaction occurred during this filing period, select No.

Enter amounts for this period only, the original transaction must be included in total number of VDDs sold.

Returned Merchandise and Fee-Paid Purchases Resold

Enter the number of VDDs in each category in column A. Number, for which you refunded the eWaste fee to your customers for merchandise returned on sales made during this filing period.

Note: Report returned merchandise sold prior to this filing period in the Fee Adjustment section, eWaste Recycling Fee Credit Adjustment Worksheet on the next screen.

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

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

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

Total current period credit adjustments. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Do you have any credits to claim where the original transaction(s) occurred prior to this filing period? (Fee reported and paid in a previous period)

If you have any credits to claim where the original transaction occurred prior to this filing period, select Yes, and in the next field (drop-down), select the period the original sale took place.

If you do not have any credits to claim where original transaction occurred prior to this filing period, select No.

Section A. Fee-Paid Purchase Resold Credit

Complete this section to calculate the credit adjustment for fee-paid purchases of VDDs that were resold where the original transaction occurred prior to this filing period.

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

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

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

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

Total fee-paid purchases resold credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Section B. Returned Credit

Complete this section to calculate the credit adjustment for returned VDD products where the original transaction occurred prior to this filing period.

Enter the number of VDD products that were returned in each category in Section B. Number.

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

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

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

Total returned merchandise credit. The system will automatically calculate this field.

Total Prior Period Fee Credit Adjustments

Subtotal prior period fee credit adjustments. The system will automatically populate this field.

3% fee collection reimbursement adjustments. The system will automatically populate this field.

Total prior period fee credit adjustments. The system will automatically calculate this field.

If you have collected more eWaste recycling fee from your customers than the amount due calculated on your return, enter the difference.

Collecting excess (more) eWaste recycling fee can occur in the following situations:

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

Excess fee collected. Enter the difference of excess fee collected.

• Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Guide
• Online Return Filing Tutorial