NS-1922 - Amending Chapter 21 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code Relating to Business License Tax

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ARTICLE VI. APPORTIONMENT Sec. 21-56. Constitutional Apportionment. None of the business taxes provided for by this chapter shall be so applied so as to occasion an undue burden upon interstate commerce or be violative of the Constitutions of the United States and/or the State of California. Sec. 21-57. Apportionment; necessary rules and regulations. When, by reason of the provisions of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of California, the business tax imposed by the provisions of this chapter cannot be enforced as to any single class or set of classes of business or business activity without there being an apportionment according to the amount of business done in the city, or in the State of California, as the case may be, the Collector, having first obtained the approval of the City Attorney shall make such rules and regulations for the apportionment of the tax as are necessary or otherwise desirable to overcome the constitutional objections. Sec. 21-58. Burden on interstate commerce; petition for adj us tment. In any case where a license tax is claimed by a licensee or applicant for license to place an undue burden upon interstate commerce, or be violative of the Constitutions of the United States and/or the State of California, he or she may apply to the Collector for an adjustment of the tax so that it shall not be discriminatory or unreasonable as to such commerce. Such application may be made before, at, or within six (6) months after payment of the prescribed license tax. The applicant shall by affidavit and supporting testimony show his or her method of business and the gross volume or estimated gross volume of business and such other information as the Collector may deem necessary in order to determine the extent, if any, of undue burden on such commerce. The Collector shall then conduct an investigation and, having first obtained the approval of the City Attorney, shall fix as the license tax for the applicant an amount that is reasonable and nondiscriminatory. If the license tax has already been paid, he or she shall order a refund of the amount over and above the license tax so fixed. In fixing the license tax to be charged, the Collector may base the license tax upon a percentage of the gross receipts or any other measure which will assure that the license tax levied shall be uniform with that levied on businesses of like nature so long as the amount levied does not exceed the license tax as prescribed by this chapter. Should the Collector determine the gross receipts measure of business tax to be the proper basis, he or she may require the applicant to submit, either at the time of termination of applicant's business in the city, or at the end of - 34