Could an agent's single business-asset sale be occasional when the agent's only property sales were attributed to a Board-designated section 6015 retailer?

Plain-English summary

When the Board determines that a person is the section 6015 retailer, salesmen, representatives, peddlers, or canvassers treated as that retailer's agents do not need seller's permits because their sales of covered property are regarded as sales by the designated retailer.

If those covered sales were an agent's only tangible-personal-property sales, a single sale of the agent's business assets was an occasional sale.

Source record and limits

The July 28, 1975 source is a short Headquarters Tax Counsel memorandum bearing only the author initials PRD: gj. Its To: field is blank. The page layout places annotation number 395.0064 under that blank field, leaves the printed Date: field empty, names Headquarters – Tax Counsel (PRD) as the sender, and prints the date after the subject.

The subject reads Regulations 1595 and 6015 – Retailers. The body does not discuss Regulation 1595 and refers only to a 6015 retailer and 6015 property; the live annotation labels the person a section 6015 retailer. This page preserves that difference rather than claiming the PDF itself gives a formal section citation it does not print.

The memorandum states a general rule, not the disposition of an identified sale. It does not provide the Board determination, retailer designation, parties, agency contract, products, invoices, sales history, other activities, seller's permits, asset description, purchase or use history, sale agreement, buyer, price, return, audit, assessment, protest, hearing, payment, appeal, or later outcome. Without those records, the two express predicates—a Board retailer determination and no tangible-property sales other than section 6015 property—cannot be checked for any particular agent.

The live annotation preserves the named agent categories, no-permit result, covered-sales-only condition, single-asset-sale rule, and July 28, 1975 date. It omits the PDF's express reason that, for Sales and Use Tax Law administration, the agent's sales are regarded as sales of the section 6015 retailer. It also omits the Regulation 1595 subject reference, blank addressee and date fields, author initials, absence of a concrete transaction, and missing evidence and outcome.

What this means for you

Sales agents and representatives

The result depended on an actual Board retailer determination and on the agent having no other tangible-property sales outside the arrangement. The memorandum does not document either predicate for a specific agent.

Accountants and tax professionals

Confirm the designation, the property it covers, and whether the agent conducted any separate sales before classifying an asset disposition as occasional.

Common questions

Q: Who could be treated as the designated retailer's agent?
A: The memorandum names salesmen, representatives, peddlers, and canvassers.

Q: Did those agents need permits for covered sales?
A: No. For Sales and Use Tax Law administration, those sales were regarded as sales of the section 6015 retailer.

Q: Did every asset sale by an agent qualify?
A: No. It speaks only of a single asset sale and only where the agent's other tangible-property sales were section 6015 property.

Q: Did the memorandum decide an identified agent's asset sale?

A: No. It states a category-wide answer but names no agent, assets, transaction, tax amount, or proceeding.

Q: Why were the covered sales not permit-requiring sales of the agent?

A: The memorandum says that, for administration of the Sales and Use Tax Law, those sales were regarded as sales of the section 6015 retailer.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6015 — identified as a section by the live annotation; the PDF uses 6015 retailer and 6015 property
• California Sales and Use Tax Regulation 1595 — named only in the supporting memorandum's subject line
• Board retailer determination, designation, agency, product, sales, permit, asset, transaction, tax, administrative, and outcome records — implicated but not included

Verbatim support

From the official July 28, 1975 Headquarters Tax Counsel memorandum:

When the Board has determined that a person is a 6015 retailer, the salesmen, representatives, peddlers, or canvassers who are then regarded as the “agents” of the 6015 retailer are not required to hold seller’s permits because of their sales of 6015 property.

For the purposes of the administration of the Sales and Use Tax Law their sales are regarded as sales of the 6015 retailer.

If the only sales of tangible personal property by such an “agent” are sales of 6015 property, a single sale of the “agent’s” business assets is an occasional sale.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Annotation page: Annotation 395.0064
• Original supporting opinion: 395.0064 PDF

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

Memorandum

To:

395.0064

Date:

From:

Headquarters – Tax Counsel (PRD)

Subject:

Regulations 1595 and 6015 – Retailers

July 28, 1975

When the Board has determined that a person is a 6015 retailer, the salesmen, representatives, peddlers, or canvassers who are then regarded as the “agents” of the 6015 retailer are not required to hold seller’s permits because of their sales of 6015 property. For the purposes of the administration of the Sales and Use Tax Law their sales are regarded as sales of the 6015 retailer. If the only sales of tangible personal property by such an “agent” are sales of 6015 property, a single sale of the “agent’s” business assets is an occasional sale.

PRD: gj