Sales and use taxes: claim for refund: customer refunds.

Under the Sales and Use Tax Law, any amount collected or paid in excess of what is due under that law is required to be credited by the State Board of Equalization against any other amounts due and payable from the person from whom the excess amount was collected or by whom it was paid, and the balance refunded to the person, as provided. Under existing law, when an amount represented by a person to a customer as constituting reimbursement for taxes due under the Sales and Use Tax Law is computed upon an amount that is not taxable or is in excess of the taxable amount and is actually paid by the customer to the person, the amount paid is required to be returned by the person to the customer upon notification by the board or by the customer that this excess has been ascertained. This bill would authorize a person that has paid the tax to make an irrevocable election to assign to the customer the right to file a claim for refund to receive the amount that would be refunded to the person, provided specified conditions are met, including that the amount be $50,000 of tax or more. This bill would authorize the board to make a payment to the customer of the balance of any excess amount collected or paid, after any amounts due and payable from the person or customer are credited against that excess amount. This bill would also require an amount subject to refund that is credited to the person that paid the tax and not refunded to the customer to be paid by that person directly to the customer.