The California Board of Equalization (BOE) has launched a new tax survey “…to help the Board learn more about what Californians think about use tax.”
The survey is a short, direct set of 16 questions which does not require you to provide personally identifiable information. The BOE just wants to know how many residents understand use tax liability and why they don’t pay.
According to Tax Analysts, who obtained a preliminary report of the responses to date, “…684 out of 983 respondents know that they owe the state use taxes if a remote seller does not collect the sales tax. However, 18 percent of those who responded to the informal survey say they do not pay the use tax because they pay too much tax already, while another 18 percent refuse to pay because they disagree with the use tax.”
The results seem to indicate that many consumers are not aware of use tax obligations and that those who are aware, feel the use tax is unfair.
This effort to learn more will be used by the BOE to improve their education efforts within California and help the BOE to be more aware of the general knowledge of the public regarding use taxes. This knowledge will be used to improve communication and education efforts.
