Could California issue a seller's permit to a five-year-old or another unemancipated minor?

Plain-English summary

The Riverside District Office denied a seller's-permit application made in the name of the requester's five-year-old daughter. The parent asked the Board's Taxpayers' Rights Advocate to explain the legal basis. The published opinion does not include the request, application or district denial, and it identifies no business, merchandise, transaction, permit number or tax amount.

Chief Counsel Timothy W. Boyer read then-current Revenue and Taxation Code section 6066 to require the applicant to sign and certify that the applicant would actively engage in business. He read section 6072 to allow only a person actively engaging in or conducting a seller's business to hold a permit.

The opinion said an unemancipated minor lacked capacity to enter a binding contract, delegate power, sue or be sued, or settle a claim, in addition to practical and physical limits on conducting business. It therefore said the Board was precluded from issuing a seller's permit to someone under 18 unless emancipated.

The opinion identified three emancipation routes: a valid marriage, active duty with the United States armed forces, or a court declaration. For a court declaration, its footnote said the petition had to show that the minor was at least 14, willingly lived apart from parents or guardian with consent or acquiescence, managed the minor's own financial affairs, and did not derive income from criminal activity. The five-year-old was not emancipated, could not sign the application and certify active business, and could not conduct the seller's business. The Board said it would not issue her a permit.

Source posture

The live 410.0167.500 annotation retains the under-18 emancipation rule and the contracting, delegation, litigation and claim-adjustment capacities. It omits the five-year-old applicant, Riverside denial, missing request and application, sections 6066 and 6072's active-business requirements, the three emancipation routes, the age-14 court-petition threshold and the other court-declaration conditions. It appends “(2000–2)” without explaining that parenthetical on the page.

The official two-page PDF has a clean native text layer. Its one page-1 stencil is the small state seal rather than a scanned text page, so no OCR was required. Two fresh direct downloads and their default text extractions matched exactly. The original-text section remains byte-identical to its committed version and matches the fresh official extraction after removing only the extractor's terminal newline and form feed.

What this means for you

Minor entrepreneurs, parents, guardians, and tax professionals

Do not treat a child's name as a substitute for an applicant with legal and operational capacity. Confirm current law, emancipation status, who will sign and certify the application, and who will actually control and conduct the seller's business. The 1999 opinion does not establish today's requirements.

Common questions

Q: Why was the five-year-old denied a permit?

A: The opinion said she was not emancipated, lacked the ability to contract or delegate power, could not sign and certify active business, and because of her age could not conduct a seller's business.

Q: Could an emancipated minor receive a permit?

A: The opinion says the Board may issue one because an emancipated minor has specified contracting, litigation, delegation and claim-adjustment powers. It does not guarantee issuance or address a particular emancipated applicant.

Q: What emancipation routes did the source identify?

A: Valid marriage, active military duty, or a court declaration.

Q: What did the opinion say a court-declaration petition had to show?

A: At least age 14, willing separate living with parental or guardian consent or acquiescence, management of the minor's own finances, and income not derived from criminal activity.

Q: Does the source show the child's proposed business?

A: No. It identifies no business activity, property, sale, customer, permit number or tax amount.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code §§ 6066 and 6072 — as described in the 1999 opinion
• California Family Code §§ 6701, 7002, 7050, and 7120 — as described in the 1999 opinion
• Request to the Taxpayers' Rights Advocate; child's permit application; Riverside District Office denial; and any proposed-business records — described or implicated but not included

Verbatim support

From the official Chief Counsel opinion:

Due to the legal limitations on the ability of a minor to contract, to sue and be sued, and to delegate power, as well as practical and physical limitations on a minor's ability to actively engage in or conduct business, the Board is precluded from issuing a seller's permit to a person that has not reached the age of 18 years, except when that person is emancipated.

In the instant case, the five-year-old applicant, X----------- is a minor who is not emancipated, who lacks the ability to contract or delegate power, and who, because of her young age, is not capable of engaging in or conducting business as a seller or of signing the application and certifying that the minor will actively engage in or conduct a business as a seller of tangible personal property.

For all of the foregoing reasons, the Board will not issue a seller's permit to X-----------.

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: CDTFA Annotated Legal Opinions
• Live annotation: Annotation 410.0167.500
• Original supporting opinion: 410.0167.500 PDF

Original ruling text

410.0167.500

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

JOHAN KLEHS
First District, Hayward

450 N STREET, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
PO BOX 942879, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 94279-0082
TELEPHONE (916) 445-4380
FAX (916) 323-3387

DEAN F. ANDAL
Second District, Stockton
CLAUDE PARRISH.
Third District, Torrance
JOHN CHIANG
Fourth District, Los Angeles
KATHLEEN CONNELL
Controller, Sacramento

August 6, 1999

E. L. SORENSEN, JR
Executive Director

Re: Application for a Seller’s Permit by a Minor
Dear X-------------,
This is in response to your request to Ms Jennifer L. Willis, Taxpayers' Rights Advocate for the Board of Equalization (the "Board"), for an explanation of the legal basis for the denial of an application for a' seller's permit under the Sales and Use Tax Law. Specifically, the Riverside District Office of the Board denied an application for a seller's permit made in the name of X------------, your five-year-old daughter. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6066 requires that every person desiring to engage in business as a seller file an application for a permit on a form prescribed by the Board, that the applicant sign the application and certify that the applicant will actively engage in business. In addition, Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6072 provides that a permit may be held only by persons actively engaging in or conducting a business as a seller of tangible personal property, and if the person is not actively engaged in business the permit must be surrendered to the Board. Under Family Code Sections 6701 and 7050 a minor that is not emancipated lacks the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract, give a delegation of power, sue or be sued, or compromise, settle or adjust a claim. Due to the legal limitations on the ability of a minor to contract, to sue and be sued, and to delegate power, as well as practical and physical limitations on a minor's ability to actively engage in or conduct business, the Board is precluded from issuing a seller's permit to a person that has not reached the age of 18 years, except when that person is emancipated. The Board may, however, issue a permit to an emancipated minor since an emancipated minor has the capacity to, among other things, (i) enter into a binding contract or give a delegation of power (ii) sue or be sued in the minor's own name and (Hi) compromise, settle, arbitrate, or otherwise adjust a claim, action, or proceeding by or against the minor 1 . To qualify for

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Family Code Section 7050

emancipation 2 , the minor must (i) have entered into a valid marriage, (ii) be on active duty with the United States armed forces or (iii) have received a declaration of emancipation 3 from a court. In the instant case, the five-year-old applicant, X----------- is a minor who is not emancipated, who lacks the ability to contract or delegate power, and who, because of her young age, is not capable of engaging in or conducting business as a seller or of signing the application and certifying that the minor will actively engage in or conduct a business as a seller of tangible personal property. For all of the foregoing reasons, the Board will not issue a seller's permit to X-----------. If you have any further questions, please contact M. Judith Nelson of my staff at (916) 324-2641. Sincerely,

Timothy W. Boyer
Chief Counsel
TWB:ef
cc:

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Ms. Jennifer L. Willis, Taxpayers’ Rights Advocate – MIC:70
Mr. Gerald T. Haff, Riverside District Office - EH

Family Code Section 7002
Family Code Section 7120. In seeking a declaration of emancipation, the petition must set forth facts that (i) the minor is at least 14 years of age, (ii) the minor willingly lives separate and apart from the minor’s parents or guardian with the consent or acquiescence of the minor’s parents or guardian, (iii) the minor is managing his or her own financial affairs, and (iv) the source of the minor’s income is not derived from any activity declared to be a crime by the laws of this state or the laws of the United States.

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