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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024

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Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act

Revenue and Taxation Code

Division 2. Other Taxes
Part 20. Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act

Chapter 1. General Provisions and Definitions

Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act

(Part 20, Division 2, Revenue and Taxation Code)

Enacted Statutes 1976, Chapter 443, operative July 1, 1977; amended Statutes 1977, Chapter 921; Statutes 1978, Chapters 352, 827 Statutes 1979, Chapter 906; Statutes 1980, Chapters 546, 1035. Statutes 1981, Chapters 714, 947. Statutes 1982, Chapters 5 (First Extra Session), 517, and 1589.

Chapter 1. General Provisions and Definitions

41001. Title. This part is known and may be cited as the "Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act".

41002. Construction. Except where the context otherwise requires, the definitions given in this chapter govern the construction of this part.

41003. "Person." "Person" includes an individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, association, cooperative organization, fraternal organization, nonprofit organization, corporation, estate, trust, business or common law trust, receiver, assignee for the benefit of creditors, trustee or trustee in bankruptcy.

"Person" does not include a nonprofit hospital, nonprofit educational organization, or a public agency.

History—Stats. 1994, Ch. 1200, in effect September 30, 1994, deleted "copartnership" and added "limited liability company".

41004. "Department." "Department" means the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

History—Repealed and added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019.

41005. "In this state." "In this state" means within the exterior limits of the State of California and includes all territory within those limits owned by or ceded to the United States of America.

41006. "Public agency." "Public agency" means this state, and any city, county, city and county, municipal corporation, public district, or public authority located in whole or in part within this state which provides or has authority to provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency services.

Text of Section Operative Through December 31, 2019

41007. "Service supplier." (a) "Service supplier" shall mean both of the following:

(1) A person supplying intrastate telephone communication services to a service user in this state pursuant to California intrastate tariffs and providing access to the "911" emergency system by utilizing the digits 9-1-1.

(2) A person supplying Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to a service user in this state and providing access to the "911" emergency system by utilizing the digits 9-1-1.

(b) On and after January 1, 1988, "service supplier" also includes a person supplying intrastate telephone communication services for whom the Public Utilities Commission, by rule or order, modifies or eliminates the requirement for that person to prepare and file California intrastate tariffs.

(c) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020, and shall be repealed as of that date.

History—Stats. 1986, Ch. 1477, effective September 30, 1986, inserted "pursuant to California Intrastate tariffs" after "communication services". Stats. 1987, Ch. 556, effective January 1, 1988, inserted "(a)" before first paragraph and added paragraph (b). Stats. 2008, Ch. 17 (SB 1040), in effect May 21, 2008, revised subdivision (a) which read, ""Service supplier" shall mean any person supplying intrastate telephone communication services pursuant to California intrastate tariffs to any service user in the state." Stats. 2010, Ch. 328 (SB 1330), in effect January 1, 2011, substituted "A" or "a" for "Any" or "any" throughout section and substituted "communication" for "communications" after "supplying intrastate telephone" in subdivision (b). Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, and inoperative January 1, 2020.

Text of Section Operative Through January 1, 2020

41007. "Service supplier." (a) "Service supplier" shall mean a person supplying an access line to a service user in this state

(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

History—Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed and added by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, but operative January 1, 2020.

41007.1. "Access line." (a) A wireline communications service line.

(b) A wireless communications service line.

(c) A VoIP service line, as defined by Section 41016.5 as added by the act adding this section.

History—Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019.

41007.2. "Wireline communications service." (a) "Wireline communications service" shall mean a local exchange service provided at a physical location in this state that allows the user to make an outbound communication to the 911 emergency communications system.

(b) For the purposes of the surcharge imposed by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 41020):

(1) A wireline communications service access line does not include a direct inward dialing number, extension, or other similar feature that routes an inbound call and cannot provide access to the 911 emergency communications system.

(2) The number of surcharges imposed shall not exceed the total number of concurrent outbound calls that can be placed to the emergency communications system at a single point of time.

(c) This definition shall apply only to this part.

(d) Commencing January 1, 2023, a "wireline communications service" shall include a local exchange service provided at a physical location in this state that allows the user to make an outbound communication to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as defined in the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act (Article 6.3 (commencing with Section 53123.1) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).

History—Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019. Stats. 2022, Ch. 747 (AB 988), effective September 29, 2022, substituted "or 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline" for "system" after "emergency communications" in subdivision (a); added subdivision (d). Stats. 2023, Ch. 511 (SB 889), in effect January 1, 2024, substituted "communications system." for "communications or 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline." in subdivision (a); substituted "wireline" for "wireless" before "communications" in subdivision (d).

41007.3. "Wireless communications service line." (a) (1) (A) "Wireless communications service line" shall mean a telecommunications service provided to an end user with a place of primary use in this state that allows the end user to make an outbound communication to the 911 emergency communications system.

(B) Commencing January 1, 2023, a "wireless communications service line" shall include a telecommunications service provided to an end user with a place of primary use in this state that allows the user to make an outbound communication to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as defined in the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act (Article 6.3 (commencing with Section 53123.1) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).

(2) A wireless communications service line shall not include prepaid mobile telephony service.

(b) For the purposes of the surcharge imposed by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 41020), not more than one 911 surcharge and one 988 surcharge may be imposed per wireless communications service line number assigned to an end user of mobile telecommunications service.

(c) The definition of "wireless communication services line" shall apply only to this part.

History—Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019. Stats. 2022, Ch. 747 (AB 988), effective September 29, 2022, deleted second sentence of subdivision (a); renumbered paragraph of subdivision (a) to (1)(A) and added subparagraph (B) and paragraph (2); added "911 surcharge and one 988" after "not more than one" in subdivision (b); substituted "The" for "This" before "definition" and added "of "wireless communication services line" before "shall apply" in subdivision (c).

41007.4. "Purchase." "Purchase" means any transfer of title or possession, exchange, or barter, conditional or otherwise.

History—Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019.

41007.5. Prepaid definitions. For purposes of this part, all of the following definitions shall apply:

"Prepaid consumer" means a person who purchases prepaid mobile telephony services in a retail transaction.

(b) "Prepaid mobile telephony services" means the right to utilize a mobile device for mobile telecommunications services or information services, including the download of digital products delivered electronically, content, and ancillary services, or both telecommunications services and information services, that must be purchased in advance of usage in predetermined units or dollars. For these purposes, "telecommunications service" and "information service" have the same meanings as defined in Section 153 of Title 47 of the United States Code.

(c) "Retail transaction" means the purchase of prepaid mobile telephony services, either alone or in combination with mobile data or other services, from a seller for any purpose other than resale in the regular course of business.

(d) "Seller" means a person that sells prepaid mobile telephony service to a person in a retail transaction.

History—Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), effective July 1, 2019.

41008. "Month." As used in this part, "month" shall mean a calendar month.

Text of Section Operative Through December 31, 2019

41009. "Service user." (a) "Service user" means any person using intrastate telephone communication services or VoIP service in this state who is required to pay a surcharge under the provisions of this part.

(b) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020, and shall be repealed as of that date.

Stats. 2008, Ch. 17 (SB 1040), in effect May 21, 2008, added "or VoIP service" after communication services". Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, and inoperative January 1, 2020.

Text of Section Operative January 1, 2020

41009. "Service user." (a) "Service user" means any person that subscribes for the right to utilize an access line in this state who is required to pay a surcharge under the provisions of this part.

(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

History—Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed and added by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, but operative January 1, 2020.

41010. "Intrastate telephone communication services." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41010. "Access line in this state." "Access line in this state" means a telephone line, as defined in Section 233 of the Public Utilities Code, associated with a billing address located in California.

History—Repealed and added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432 (SB 824), effective January 1, 2022.

41011. "Charges for services." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41012. "Public telephone." "Public telephone" means any coin-operated telephone provided by the serving telephone company accessible to the public.

41013. "Surcharge." "Surcharge" means a tax or taxes levied by this state. Commencing January 1, 2023, “surcharge,” or “surcharges” as used in this part, refers to two separate charges, one related to 911 service and one related to 988 service.

History—Stats. 2022, Ch. 747 (AB 988), effective September 29, 2022, added “or taxes” before levied in first sentence; added second sentence.

41014. Authorization. [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41015. "Local telephone service." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41016. "Toll telephone service." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

Text of Section Operative Through December 31, 2019

41016.5. "VoIP service." (a) "VoIP service" means any service that satisfies the requirements set forth in paragraph (1) and (2).

(1) Does all of the following:

(A) Enables real-time, two-way voice communication that originates from and terminates to the user's location using Internet Protocol (IP) or any successor protocol.

(B) Requires a broadband connection from the user's location.

(C) Permits users, generally, to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.

(2) Does at least one of the following:

(A) Requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE).

(B) When necessary, is converted to or from transmission control protocol (TCP)/IP by the service user's service supplier before or after being switched by the public switched telephone network.

(C) Is a service that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has affirmatively required to provide 911 or E911 service.

(b) This definition shall only apply to this part.

(c) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020, and shall be repealed as of that date.

History—Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 17 (SB 1040), in effect May 21, 2008. Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, and inoperative January 1, 2020.

Text of Section Operative Through January 1, 2020

41016.5. "VoIP service." (a) "VoIP service" means any service that satisfies the requirements set forth in paragraph (1) and (2).

(1) Does all of the following:

(A) Enables real-time, two-way voice communication that originates from and terminates to the user’s location using Internet Protocol (IP) or any successor protocol.

(B) Requires a broadband connection from the user’s location.

(C) Permits users, generally, to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.

(2) Does at least one of the following:

(A) Requires Internet Protocol-compatible customer premises equipment (CPE).

(B) When necessary, is converted to or from transmission control protocol (TCP)/IP by the service user’s service supplier before or after being switched by the public switched telephone network.

(C) Is a service that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has affirmatively required to provide 911 service.

(b) For the purposes of the surcharge imposed by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 41020), both of the following shall apply:

(1) A VoIP service line does not include a direct inward dialing number, extension, or other similar feature that routes an inbound call and cannot provide direct access to the 911 emergency communications system.

(2) The number of surcharges imposed shall not exceed the total number of concurrent outbound calls that can be placed to the emergency communications system at a single point of time.

(c) This definition shall only apply to this part.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020

History—Stats. 2019, Ch. 54 (SB 96), repealed and added by its own provisions effective July 1, 2019, but operative January 1, 2020

41017. "Private communication service." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41018. "Communications equipment company." [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41019. Exemption. [Repealed by Stats. 2021, Ch. 432, in effect January 1, 2022.]

41019.5. Legislative intent for VoIP service. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that telephone quality communication utilizing VoIP shall not be regulated by the enactment of Senate Bill 1040 of the 2007–08 Regular Session. The sole purpose of this act is to ensure that all forms of telephonic quality communications that connect to the "911" emergency system contribute to the State Emergency Telephone Number Account and that this act may not be used by a court or administrative body for any purpose other than to interpret and apply this part.

(b) For purposes of this section only, "VoIP" means any service that:

(1) Enables real-time or two-way voice communication that originates or terminates from the user's location using IP or any successor protocol.

(2) Uses a broadband connection from the user's location, including any service that permits users, generally, to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.

History—Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 17 (SB 1040), in effect May 21, 2008.