Did voluntary registration of mobilehomes at Edwards Air Force Base trigger use tax for nonresident servicemembers, California-resident personnel, and civilian employees?

Plain-English summary

Edwards Air Force Base personnel had voluntarily registered mobilehomes that DMV previously required to be registered only when ownership transferred. California addressed nonresident military personnel, resident military personnel, and civilian Air Force employees separately.

Registration did not trigger use tax for nonresident military personnel. The opinion said the Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act exempted them from local personal-property tax, so registration did not avoid that tax and could be treated as solely recording and transferring title.

Use tax did apply to resident military personnel and civilian employees. They lacked the described personal-property-tax exemption, so registration moved the mobilehome out of local property taxation and affected the use-tax exemption.

The revenue laws did not provide an interim cancellation merely to regain property-tax treatment. California had no objection if DMV determined that registration occurred under a reasonable mistake of law, but cancellation had to occur before March 1, 1981 under the historical rule discussed.

Source and live-annotation limits

The letter does not reproduce the January 29, 1981 conference or identify any mobilehome owner. It supplies no mobilehome, purchase, sale, registration, residence, duty-status, local property-tax, use-tax, Lancaster-office arrangement, DMV application, cancellation decision, or later-outcome record. The cited Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act is not given a title or section. The source repeatedly abbreviates the Department of Motor Vehicles as “DMW”; that printed defect remains in the original text.

The live annotation preserves the three ownership categories, voluntary registration, differentiated tax results, and reasonable-mistake cancellation condition. It omits the named requester, January 29 conference, Lancaster office, forwarded DMV application, March 1 deadline, missing records, and later-outcome gap. It uses DMV rather than the source's “DMW” and adds a parenthetical reference to section 6012.9 that does not appear in the supporting letter.

What this means for you

Military mobilehome owners and tax professionals

Verify legal residence, military status, local property-tax treatment, registration purpose, and current cancellation procedures. The opinion's result and deadline were tied to the law and facts in 1981.

Common questions

Q: Did registration trigger use tax for nonresident servicemembers?

A: No, on the stated facts.

Q: Did it trigger use tax for resident military personnel and civilian employees?

A: Yes.

Q: Could registration simply be cancelled to obtain the exemption?

A: Only if DMV found it resulted from a reasonable mistake of law, subject to the historical deadline.

Citations and references

• Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act, as identified in the source
• California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6012.9 — cited only in the live annotation
• January 29, 1981 conference, mobilehome-registration records, DMV application, and underlying ownership and tax records — described or referenced but not included

Verbatim support

From the official February 3, 1981 letter:

The nonresident military personnel are specifically exempted from local personal property taxes under the Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act.

We would have no objection, however, to cancellation if DMW determines that the mobilehomes were registered in error under a reasonable mistake of law.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 362.0050
• Original supporting opinion: 362.0050 PDF

Original ruling text

362.0050

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION
(916) 445-6439

February 3, 1981

Captain Christopher E. Kernan
Assistant Staff Judge Advocate
Environmental
AFFTC/JA, Stop 16
Edwards AFB, CA 93523
Re: Mobile Homes at Edwards Air Force Base

Dear Captain Kernan:
This is with regard to the mobilehome problems discussed in our conference of January 29, 1981. The problem relates to mobilehomes owned by personnel on duty at Edwards Air Force Base, California. We are advised that there are three categories of mobilehome ownership: nonresident military personnel, resident personnel, and civilian employees of the Air Force. In past years, the State Department of Motor Vehicles, (DMW) has required registration only upon transfer of ownership of the mobilehomes. However, voluntary, registration of all mobilehomes has recently been completed by arrangement with the Lancaster office of DMW. The questions posed are three-fold, which are framed as follows: 1) Will the registration by nonresident servicemen personnel require payment of the use tax? Answer: “No.” The nonresident military personnel are specifically exempted from local personal property taxes under the Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act. Accordingly, since there is no element of tax avoidance involved in registering the property, the registration will, in this instance, be considered to have been undertaken solely for the purpose of recording and transferring title.

2) Will payment of use tax be required of the resident military personnel or civil service employees who recently registered a mobilehome? Answer: “Yes.” The Sailors and Soldiers Relief Act does not provide an exemption from personal property tax for persons in these classes. Thus the effect of registration is to obtain an exemption from local property taxation. Accordingly, use tax will be applicable to sales of: mobilehomes by personnel in these two categories. 3) Is it possible for resident military personnel and civilians who have registered mobilehomes to cancel their registration and thereby obtain the benefit of the mobilehome exemption for sales of mobilehomes subject to local property taxation? Answer: “Qualified.” The revenue laws do not contain any provision for interim cancellation of a valid registration in order to become subject to local property taxation. We would have no objection, however, to cancellation if DMW determines that the mobilehomes were registered in error under a reasonable mistake of law. We are forwarding a copy of· this letter to DMV for whatever action they determine proper on your application. It should be pointed out that any action to obtain cancellation of registration must be accomplished prior to March 1, 1981, because the exemption from the use tax is expressly contingent upon the subject property being subject to local property taxation. Please contact me by telephone if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

W. E. Burkett
Tax Counsel

WEB:ljt
cc:
Mr. Alan Nateer
Chief Counsel
Department of Motor Vehicles
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95818
be: Occasional Sales· (AC)