Tax collectors checking business licenses

UPDATED 4:34 P.M.

SACRAMENTO -- The tax man is coming for a visit.

The California Board of Equalization announced Monday that it’s sending inspectors to retailers and businesses in 34 state ZIP Codes to make sure their sales tax and business license documents are in order.

The visits also have an educational purpose: to answer questions about how the state sales and use tax functions and provide advice on how to collect the levy more efficiently.

The good news about the inspection program is that nearly all of the affected businesses are correctly following the law, said board Chairman Jerome E. Horton.

“We find 98% of all businesses complying,” he said.

The new round of inspections will take place in parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties, the Inland Empire, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley, the board said.

This month, 17,712 letters were sent to retailers and businesses in the following zip codes: Hawthorne (90250); Lawndale (90260); Sunset Beach (90742); Encino (91436); Pomona (91766); Hemet (92544); Moreno Valley (92555); Huntington Beach (92647, 92648, and 92649); Atascadero (93422); San Francisco (94112); Danville (94526); Mill Valley (94941); Wheatland (95692); Saratoga (95070); Marysville (95901); Browns Valley (95918); Brownsville (95919); Olivehurst (95961); Camptonville (95922); Dobbins (95935); Oregon House (95962); Smartsville (95977); Nicolaus (95659); Pleasant Grove (95668); Rio Oso (95674); Robbins (95676); Live Oak (95953); Meridian (95957); Sutter (95982); and Yuba City (95991, 95992, and 95993).

Seven special teams will check tax permits at retail stores and offices. Businesses that are found out of compliance will be instructed about how to register with the Board of Equalization.

Since 2008, board inspection teams have visited more than 311,000 businesses in 461 ZIP Codes. The inspections help the state recoup some of the estimated $2 billion in due but uncollected sales tax payments, the board said.

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