News from Member Jerome E. Horton

Third District – Los Angeles County

Statewide Compliance & Outreach Program Visiting Businesses in Los Angeles Area

Los Angeles – Staff from the Board of Equalization’s (BOE) Statewide Compliance & Outreach Program (SCOP) will soon visit non-residential, Los Angeles-area retail businesses located in ZIP Codes displayed in the chart below, announced BOE Third District Member Jerome E. Horton. Letters notifying taxpayers of an upcoming SCOP visit were recently sent to the areas listed below.

The purpose of the SCOP program is to educate business operators about their tax and fee obligations, and identify those who sell or lease tangible personal property without a seller’s permit. During the visit, the SCOP team will help businesses register with the BOE, file tax returns, and pay taxes collected from California consumers.

“Educating taxpayers is the objective of our visits,” said Board Member Jerome E. Horton.

The BOE has found that more than 98 percent of California businesses are operating with the correct permits. However, noncompliance contributes to more than $2 billion in uncollected sales and use taxes that make up part of the state’s “tax gap”—the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount paid, negatively impacting all state taxpayers.

To learn more about this program, and see a current list of ZIP codes throughout California that will be visited in the near future, visit our SCOP webpage.

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

Re-elected in 2014, Jerome E. Horton is the Third District Member of the California State Board of Equalization (BOE), representing more than 9.5 million residents in Los Angeles, Ventura, and San Bernardino counties. He is also the BOE’s Property Tax Committee Chairman. He is the first to serve as a Board Member with more than 21 years of experience at the BOE. Horton previously served as a Member of the California State Assembly from 2000-2006.

The five-member BOE is a publicly elected tax board that hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes. The BOE collects $60.5 billion annually in taxes and fees, supporting state and local government services. For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit the California Tax Service Center.