Laws, Regulations and Annotations
Search
Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Court Decisions
C H
C
City of Pomona v. State Bd. of Equalization … (1959)
Application of Local Sales Tax When a Retailer Is Located on the Border Between Two Cities
The city of Pomona brought a mandamus proceeding to compel the Board to award the entire amount of sales tax collected from a retailer located on the boundary between it and the city of Montclair. The trial court entered judgment that apportioned the sales tax between Montclair and Pomona based on the sales by each department of the establishment located within the respective city (the so-called "cashbox rule"). On appeal, the court of appeal held that the local tax statutes did not expressly provide for a situation where a unitary place of business was located on the boundary dividing different taxing localities. Because no express provision existed, the court held that the trial court's apportionment was fair and reasonable as Revenue and Taxation Code section 7202(h)(1) provided that sales tax should be determined by the receipts from goods which were sold "in the city." The court noted that the trial court properly apportioned the receipts of a department located partially within each city on the basis of the proportion of the principal sales area of the department which was located within each of the two cities. City of Pomona v. State Bd. of Equalization (1959) 53 Cal.2d 305.