Did the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act bar California use tax on service members' vehicle purchases?

Plain-English summary

The memorandum concluded that the federal civil-relief law did not prevent California from imposing an otherwise applicable use tax on a service member's automobile purchase.

California v. Buzard had barred California from requiring a vehicle license fee as a registration condition because that fee operated in lieu of property tax. The memorandum distinguished use tax from that fee. It also noted that historical sections 6248 and 6249 separately protected some active-duty members who bought vehicles outside California, but did not cover in-state purchases from nondealers.

Citations and references

• California Revenue and Taxation Code sections 6248 and 6249 (as cited)
• California v. Buzard, 15 L.Ed.2d 436 (as cited)

Source

• Annotated Legal Opinions collection: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/taxes-and-fees/annotations-menu.htm
• Annotation page: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/vol2/suta/580-0000-all.html
• Original supporting opinion: https://cdtfa.ca.gov/lawguides/annotations/580-0380.pdf

Original ruling text

State of California

Board of Equalization

580.0380

Memorandum
To:

Los Angeles District – Principal Auditor

From:

Tax Counsel (EHS) - Headquarters

Subject:

Military Personnel and Drive-Away Permits

Date:

May 4, 1966

This is with reference to your memorandum of April 8, 1966, concerning the application of use tax to purchases of automobiles by members of the armed forces. There was a recent decision of the United States Supreme Court, California v. Buzard, 15 L.Ed.2d 436, holding that the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act barred California from exacting the vehicle license fee as a condition to registering a serviceman’s car in California. Following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, we have concluded that notwithstanding this decision, the use tax validly applies with respect to purchases of automobiles by servicemen if otherwise the tax would be applicable. There are, of course, those provisions of the Sales and Use Tax Law, §§ 6248 and 6249, which, in effect, exempt the member of the armed forces on active duty who purchases a vehicle outside this state. These sections, however, do not affect instate purchases of vehicles from nondealers. The Buzard case did not involve the use tax. It involved the vehicle license fee which is in lieu of a property tax. Although there is some rather broad language in the decision, the decision also points out that the purpose of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Relief Act was to free nonresident servicemen from the obligation to pay “property and income taxes.”

EHS:fb
cc:

San Francisco – Auditing (LC:CFL):