State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Rtc > 41020-41027

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE
SECTION 41020-41027



41020.  (a) A surcharge is hereby imposed on amounts paid by every
person in the state for both of the following:
   (1) Intrastate telephone communication service in this state
commencing on July 1, 1977.
   (2) VoIP service that provides access to the "911" emergency
system by utilizing the digits 9-1-1 by any service user in this
state commencing on January 1, 2009. The surcharge shall not apply to
charges for VoIP service where any point of origin or destination is
outside of this state.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 41025, charges not subject to the
surcharge may be calculated by a service supplier based upon books
and records kept in the regular course of business, and, for purposes
of calculating the interstate revenue portion not subject to the
surcharge, a service supplier may also choose a reasonable and
verifiable method from the following:
   (A) Books and records kept in the regular course of business.
   (B) Traffic or call pattern studies representative of the service
supplier's business within California.
   (C) For VoIP service only, the VoIP safe harbor factor established
by the FCC to be used to calculate the service supplier's
contribution to the federal Universal Service Fund. The FCC safe
harbor factor in effect for VoIP service on September 1 of each year
shall apply for the period of January 1 through December 31,
inclusive, of the next succeeding calendar year for purposes of this
method. At such time as the FCC establishes a safe harbor factor for
the federal Universal Service Fund for VoIP service that is greater
than 75 percent for interstate revenue or abolishes the safe harbor
factor applicable to VoIP service, this method shall become void and
of no effect, in which case a VoIP service supplier may use an
alternative method approved in advance by the board, which shall be
available to all VoIP service suppliers. The FCC safe harbor factor
applicable to VoIP service, as described in this subparagraph, is
used solely as a mechanism to calculate the charges not subject to
the surcharge for VoIP service and is not necessarily reflective of
the intrastate portion of VoIP service. The use of the FCC safe
harbor factor authorized by this subdivision shall not be interpreted
to permit application of any intrastate requirement, other than the
surcharge imposed under this part, upon VoIP service suppliers.
   (2) Any method chosen by a service supplier shall remain in effect
for at least one calendar year.
   (3)  If a service supplier reasonably relies upon books and
records kept in the regular course of business or any documentation
that satisfies the reasonable and verifiable method, then the service
supplier's determination of the portion of the billed amount
attributable to services not subject to the surcharge shall be
rebuttably presumed to be correct. The service supplier's choice of
books and records or other method and surcharge billing practice
shall also be rebuttably presumed to be fair and legal business
practices.
   (4) It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of
subparagraph (C) shall not be considered to be a precedent for the
application of the surcharge or any other tax or fee where a person
is required to collect a tax or fee imposed upon another.
   (c) The surcharge imposed shall be at the rate of one-half of 1
percent of the charges made for such services to and including
November 1, 1982, and thereafter at a rate fixed pursuant to Article
2 (commencing with Section 41030).
   (d) The surcharge shall be paid by the service user as hereinafter
provided.
   (e) The surcharge imposed shall not apply to either of the
following:
   (1) In accordance with the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act
(Public Law 106-252), which is incorporated herein by reference, to
any charges for mobile telecommunications services billed to a
customer where those services are provided, or deemed provided, to a
customer whose place of primary use is outside this state. Mobile
telecommunications services shall be deemed provided by a customer's
home service provider to the customer if those services are provided
in a taxing jurisdiction to the customer, and the charges for those
services are billed by or for the customer's home service provider.
   (2) To any charges for VoIP service billed to a customer where
those services are provided to a customer whose place of primary use
of VoIP service is outside this state.
   (f) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Charges for mobile telecommunications services" means any
charge for, or associated with, the provision of commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999, or any charge for,
or associated with, a service provided as an adjunct to a commercial
mobile radio service, that is billed to the customer by or for the
customer's home service provider, regardless of whether individual
transmissions originate or terminate within the licensed service area
of the home service provider.
   (2) "Customer" means (A) the person or entity that contracts with
the home service provider for mobile telecommunications services, or
with a VoIP service provider for VoIP service, or (B) if the end user
of mobile telecommunications services or VoIP service is not the
contracting party, the end user of the mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service. This paragraph applies only for the purpose
of determining the place of primary use. The term "customer" does not
include (A) a reseller of mobile telecommunications service or VoIP
communication service, or (B) a serving carrier under an arrangement
to serve the mobile customer outside the home service provider's
licensed service area.
   (3) "Home service provider" means the facilities-based carrier or
reseller with which the customer contracts for the provision of
mobile telecommunications services.
   (4) "Licensed service area" means the geographic area in which the
home service provider is authorized by law or contract to provide
commercial mobile radio service to the customer.
   (5) "Mobile telecommunications service" means commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999.
   (6) "Place of primary use" means the street address representative
of where the customer's use of the mobile telecommunications service
or VoIP service primarily occurs, that must be:
   (A) The residential street address or the primary business street
address of the customer.
   (B) With respect to mobile telecommunications service, within the
licensed service area of the home service provider.
   (7) (A) "Reseller" means a provider who purchases
telecommunications services or VoIP service from another
telecommunications service provider or VoIP service and then resells
the services, or uses the services as a component part of, or
integrates the purchased services into, a mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service.
   (B) "Reseller" does not include a serving carrier with which a
home service provider arranges for the services to its customers
outside the home service provider's licensed service area.
   (8) "Serving carrier" means a facilities-based carrier providing
mobile telecommunications service to a customer outside a home
service provider's or reseller's licensed area.
   (9) "Taxing jurisdiction" means any of the several states, the
District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United
States, any municipality, city, county, township, parish,
transportation district, or assessment jurisdiction, or any other
political subdivision within the territorial limits of the United
States with the authority to impose a tax, charge, or fee.
   (10) "VoIP service provider" means that provider of VoIP service
with whom the end user customer contracts for the provision of VoIP
services for the customer's own use and not for resale.
   (g) The amendments made to this section by the act that added this
subdivision shall become operative upon the enactment of that act,
except that subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section, as amended,
shall become operative on January 1, 2009.



41021.  (a) A service supplier shall collect the surcharge from each
service user at the time it collects its billings from the service
user, provided that the duty to collect the surcharge from a service
user shall commence with the beginning of the first regular billing
period applicable to that person which starts on or after the
operative date of the surcharge imposed by this part. If the stations
or lines of more than one service supplier are utilized in
furnishing the telephone communication services to the service user,
the service supplier that bills the customer shall collect the
surcharge from the customer.
   (b) Only one payment under this part shall be required with
respect to the surcharge on a service, notwithstanding that the lines
or stations of one or more service suppliers are used in furnishing
that service.



41022.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier shall be added to and stated separately in its billings to
the service user.


41023.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier, and any amount unreturned to the service user which is not
a surcharge but was collected from the service user as representing a
surcharge, constitute debts owed by the service supplier to this
state.
   A service supplier that has collected any amount of surcharge in
excess of the amount of surcharge imposed by this part and actually
due from a service user, may refund such amount to the service user,
even though such surcharge amount has already been paid over to the
board and no corresponding credit or refund has yet been secured. Any
service supplier making a refund of any charge to a service user
upon which surcharge is collected under this part from the service
user may repay therewith the amount of the surcharge paid. The
service supplier may claim credit for such overpayment against the
amount of surcharge imposed by this part which is due upon any other
quarterly return, providing such credit is claimed in a return dated
no later than three years from the date of overpayment.



41024.  Every service user in this state is liable for the surcharge
until it has been paid to this state, except that payment to a
service supplier registered under this part is sufficient to relieve
the user from further liability for the tax.
   Any surcharge collected from a service user which has not been
remitted to the board shall be deemed a debt owed to the State of
California by the person required to collect and remit such
surcharge. Nothing in this part shall impose any obligation upon a
service supplier to take any legal action to enforce the collection
of the utility users surcharge imposed by this part. The service
supplier shall provide the board with amounts uncollected which total
three dollars ($3) or more on a cumulative basis with respect to a
single service user along with the names, addresses and reasons of
the service users refusing to pay the surcharge imposed by this part.



41025.  If a bill is rendered to persons using intrastate telephone
services or VoIP service, the amount on which the surcharge with
respect to such services shall be based shall be the sum of all
charges for such services included in the bill; except that if the
person who renders the bill groups individual items for purposes of
rendering the bill and computing the surcharge, then the amount on
which the surcharge with respect to each such group shall be based
shall be the sum of all items within that group, and the surcharge on
the remaining items not included in any such group shall be based on
the charge for each item separately.



41026.  In the payment of the surcharge imposed by this part, a
fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to
one-half or more, in which case it shall be increased to one cent.



41027.  Nothing in this part shall be construed as imposing a
surcharge upon amounts paid by any person when imposition of such
surcharge would be in violation of the Constitution of the United
States, the United States Code, or the laws of the State of
California, nor upon toll charges used in the collection and
dissemination of news for the public press or on charges for wide
area telephone service used by common carriers in the conduct of
their business.

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Rtc > 41020-41027

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE
SECTION 41020-41027



41020.  (a) A surcharge is hereby imposed on amounts paid by every
person in the state for both of the following:
   (1) Intrastate telephone communication service in this state
commencing on July 1, 1977.
   (2) VoIP service that provides access to the "911" emergency
system by utilizing the digits 9-1-1 by any service user in this
state commencing on January 1, 2009. The surcharge shall not apply to
charges for VoIP service where any point of origin or destination is
outside of this state.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 41025, charges not subject to the
surcharge may be calculated by a service supplier based upon books
and records kept in the regular course of business, and, for purposes
of calculating the interstate revenue portion not subject to the
surcharge, a service supplier may also choose a reasonable and
verifiable method from the following:
   (A) Books and records kept in the regular course of business.
   (B) Traffic or call pattern studies representative of the service
supplier's business within California.
   (C) For VoIP service only, the VoIP safe harbor factor established
by the FCC to be used to calculate the service supplier's
contribution to the federal Universal Service Fund. The FCC safe
harbor factor in effect for VoIP service on September 1 of each year
shall apply for the period of January 1 through December 31,
inclusive, of the next succeeding calendar year for purposes of this
method. At such time as the FCC establishes a safe harbor factor for
the federal Universal Service Fund for VoIP service that is greater
than 75 percent for interstate revenue or abolishes the safe harbor
factor applicable to VoIP service, this method shall become void and
of no effect, in which case a VoIP service supplier may use an
alternative method approved in advance by the board, which shall be
available to all VoIP service suppliers. The FCC safe harbor factor
applicable to VoIP service, as described in this subparagraph, is
used solely as a mechanism to calculate the charges not subject to
the surcharge for VoIP service and is not necessarily reflective of
the intrastate portion of VoIP service. The use of the FCC safe
harbor factor authorized by this subdivision shall not be interpreted
to permit application of any intrastate requirement, other than the
surcharge imposed under this part, upon VoIP service suppliers.
   (2) Any method chosen by a service supplier shall remain in effect
for at least one calendar year.
   (3)  If a service supplier reasonably relies upon books and
records kept in the regular course of business or any documentation
that satisfies the reasonable and verifiable method, then the service
supplier's determination of the portion of the billed amount
attributable to services not subject to the surcharge shall be
rebuttably presumed to be correct. The service supplier's choice of
books and records or other method and surcharge billing practice
shall also be rebuttably presumed to be fair and legal business
practices.
   (4) It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of
subparagraph (C) shall not be considered to be a precedent for the
application of the surcharge or any other tax or fee where a person
is required to collect a tax or fee imposed upon another.
   (c) The surcharge imposed shall be at the rate of one-half of 1
percent of the charges made for such services to and including
November 1, 1982, and thereafter at a rate fixed pursuant to Article
2 (commencing with Section 41030).
   (d) The surcharge shall be paid by the service user as hereinafter
provided.
   (e) The surcharge imposed shall not apply to either of the
following:
   (1) In accordance with the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act
(Public Law 106-252), which is incorporated herein by reference, to
any charges for mobile telecommunications services billed to a
customer where those services are provided, or deemed provided, to a
customer whose place of primary use is outside this state. Mobile
telecommunications services shall be deemed provided by a customer's
home service provider to the customer if those services are provided
in a taxing jurisdiction to the customer, and the charges for those
services are billed by or for the customer's home service provider.
   (2) To any charges for VoIP service billed to a customer where
those services are provided to a customer whose place of primary use
of VoIP service is outside this state.
   (f) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Charges for mobile telecommunications services" means any
charge for, or associated with, the provision of commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999, or any charge for,
or associated with, a service provided as an adjunct to a commercial
mobile radio service, that is billed to the customer by or for the
customer's home service provider, regardless of whether individual
transmissions originate or terminate within the licensed service area
of the home service provider.
   (2) "Customer" means (A) the person or entity that contracts with
the home service provider for mobile telecommunications services, or
with a VoIP service provider for VoIP service, or (B) if the end user
of mobile telecommunications services or VoIP service is not the
contracting party, the end user of the mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service. This paragraph applies only for the purpose
of determining the place of primary use. The term "customer" does not
include (A) a reseller of mobile telecommunications service or VoIP
communication service, or (B) a serving carrier under an arrangement
to serve the mobile customer outside the home service provider's
licensed service area.
   (3) "Home service provider" means the facilities-based carrier or
reseller with which the customer contracts for the provision of
mobile telecommunications services.
   (4) "Licensed service area" means the geographic area in which the
home service provider is authorized by law or contract to provide
commercial mobile radio service to the customer.
   (5) "Mobile telecommunications service" means commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999.
   (6) "Place of primary use" means the street address representative
of where the customer's use of the mobile telecommunications service
or VoIP service primarily occurs, that must be:
   (A) The residential street address or the primary business street
address of the customer.
   (B) With respect to mobile telecommunications service, within the
licensed service area of the home service provider.
   (7) (A) "Reseller" means a provider who purchases
telecommunications services or VoIP service from another
telecommunications service provider or VoIP service and then resells
the services, or uses the services as a component part of, or
integrates the purchased services into, a mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service.
   (B) "Reseller" does not include a serving carrier with which a
home service provider arranges for the services to its customers
outside the home service provider's licensed service area.
   (8) "Serving carrier" means a facilities-based carrier providing
mobile telecommunications service to a customer outside a home
service provider's or reseller's licensed area.
   (9) "Taxing jurisdiction" means any of the several states, the
District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United
States, any municipality, city, county, township, parish,
transportation district, or assessment jurisdiction, or any other
political subdivision within the territorial limits of the United
States with the authority to impose a tax, charge, or fee.
   (10) "VoIP service provider" means that provider of VoIP service
with whom the end user customer contracts for the provision of VoIP
services for the customer's own use and not for resale.
   (g) The amendments made to this section by the act that added this
subdivision shall become operative upon the enactment of that act,
except that subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section, as amended,
shall become operative on January 1, 2009.



41021.  (a) A service supplier shall collect the surcharge from each
service user at the time it collects its billings from the service
user, provided that the duty to collect the surcharge from a service
user shall commence with the beginning of the first regular billing
period applicable to that person which starts on or after the
operative date of the surcharge imposed by this part. If the stations
or lines of more than one service supplier are utilized in
furnishing the telephone communication services to the service user,
the service supplier that bills the customer shall collect the
surcharge from the customer.
   (b) Only one payment under this part shall be required with
respect to the surcharge on a service, notwithstanding that the lines
or stations of one or more service suppliers are used in furnishing
that service.



41022.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier shall be added to and stated separately in its billings to
the service user.


41023.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier, and any amount unreturned to the service user which is not
a surcharge but was collected from the service user as representing a
surcharge, constitute debts owed by the service supplier to this
state.
   A service supplier that has collected any amount of surcharge in
excess of the amount of surcharge imposed by this part and actually
due from a service user, may refund such amount to the service user,
even though such surcharge amount has already been paid over to the
board and no corresponding credit or refund has yet been secured. Any
service supplier making a refund of any charge to a service user
upon which surcharge is collected under this part from the service
user may repay therewith the amount of the surcharge paid. The
service supplier may claim credit for such overpayment against the
amount of surcharge imposed by this part which is due upon any other
quarterly return, providing such credit is claimed in a return dated
no later than three years from the date of overpayment.



41024.  Every service user in this state is liable for the surcharge
until it has been paid to this state, except that payment to a
service supplier registered under this part is sufficient to relieve
the user from further liability for the tax.
   Any surcharge collected from a service user which has not been
remitted to the board shall be deemed a debt owed to the State of
California by the person required to collect and remit such
surcharge. Nothing in this part shall impose any obligation upon a
service supplier to take any legal action to enforce the collection
of the utility users surcharge imposed by this part. The service
supplier shall provide the board with amounts uncollected which total
three dollars ($3) or more on a cumulative basis with respect to a
single service user along with the names, addresses and reasons of
the service users refusing to pay the surcharge imposed by this part.



41025.  If a bill is rendered to persons using intrastate telephone
services or VoIP service, the amount on which the surcharge with
respect to such services shall be based shall be the sum of all
charges for such services included in the bill; except that if the
person who renders the bill groups individual items for purposes of
rendering the bill and computing the surcharge, then the amount on
which the surcharge with respect to each such group shall be based
shall be the sum of all items within that group, and the surcharge on
the remaining items not included in any such group shall be based on
the charge for each item separately.



41026.  In the payment of the surcharge imposed by this part, a
fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to
one-half or more, in which case it shall be increased to one cent.



41027.  Nothing in this part shall be construed as imposing a
surcharge upon amounts paid by any person when imposition of such
surcharge would be in violation of the Constitution of the United
States, the United States Code, or the laws of the State of
California, nor upon toll charges used in the collection and
dissemination of news for the public press or on charges for wide
area telephone service used by common carriers in the conduct of
their business.


State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > California > Rtc > 41020-41027

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE
SECTION 41020-41027



41020.  (a) A surcharge is hereby imposed on amounts paid by every
person in the state for both of the following:
   (1) Intrastate telephone communication service in this state
commencing on July 1, 1977.
   (2) VoIP service that provides access to the "911" emergency
system by utilizing the digits 9-1-1 by any service user in this
state commencing on January 1, 2009. The surcharge shall not apply to
charges for VoIP service where any point of origin or destination is
outside of this state.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding Section 41025, charges not subject to the
surcharge may be calculated by a service supplier based upon books
and records kept in the regular course of business, and, for purposes
of calculating the interstate revenue portion not subject to the
surcharge, a service supplier may also choose a reasonable and
verifiable method from the following:
   (A) Books and records kept in the regular course of business.
   (B) Traffic or call pattern studies representative of the service
supplier's business within California.
   (C) For VoIP service only, the VoIP safe harbor factor established
by the FCC to be used to calculate the service supplier's
contribution to the federal Universal Service Fund. The FCC safe
harbor factor in effect for VoIP service on September 1 of each year
shall apply for the period of January 1 through December 31,
inclusive, of the next succeeding calendar year for purposes of this
method. At such time as the FCC establishes a safe harbor factor for
the federal Universal Service Fund for VoIP service that is greater
than 75 percent for interstate revenue or abolishes the safe harbor
factor applicable to VoIP service, this method shall become void and
of no effect, in which case a VoIP service supplier may use an
alternative method approved in advance by the board, which shall be
available to all VoIP service suppliers. The FCC safe harbor factor
applicable to VoIP service, as described in this subparagraph, is
used solely as a mechanism to calculate the charges not subject to
the surcharge for VoIP service and is not necessarily reflective of
the intrastate portion of VoIP service. The use of the FCC safe
harbor factor authorized by this subdivision shall not be interpreted
to permit application of any intrastate requirement, other than the
surcharge imposed under this part, upon VoIP service suppliers.
   (2) Any method chosen by a service supplier shall remain in effect
for at least one calendar year.
   (3)  If a service supplier reasonably relies upon books and
records kept in the regular course of business or any documentation
that satisfies the reasonable and verifiable method, then the service
supplier's determination of the portion of the billed amount
attributable to services not subject to the surcharge shall be
rebuttably presumed to be correct. The service supplier's choice of
books and records or other method and surcharge billing practice
shall also be rebuttably presumed to be fair and legal business
practices.
   (4) It is the intent of the Legislature that the provisions of
subparagraph (C) shall not be considered to be a precedent for the
application of the surcharge or any other tax or fee where a person
is required to collect a tax or fee imposed upon another.
   (c) The surcharge imposed shall be at the rate of one-half of 1
percent of the charges made for such services to and including
November 1, 1982, and thereafter at a rate fixed pursuant to Article
2 (commencing with Section 41030).
   (d) The surcharge shall be paid by the service user as hereinafter
provided.
   (e) The surcharge imposed shall not apply to either of the
following:
   (1) In accordance with the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act
(Public Law 106-252), which is incorporated herein by reference, to
any charges for mobile telecommunications services billed to a
customer where those services are provided, or deemed provided, to a
customer whose place of primary use is outside this state. Mobile
telecommunications services shall be deemed provided by a customer's
home service provider to the customer if those services are provided
in a taxing jurisdiction to the customer, and the charges for those
services are billed by or for the customer's home service provider.
   (2) To any charges for VoIP service billed to a customer where
those services are provided to a customer whose place of primary use
of VoIP service is outside this state.
   (f) For purposes of this section:
   (1) "Charges for mobile telecommunications services" means any
charge for, or associated with, the provision of commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999, or any charge for,
or associated with, a service provided as an adjunct to a commercial
mobile radio service, that is billed to the customer by or for the
customer's home service provider, regardless of whether individual
transmissions originate or terminate within the licensed service area
of the home service provider.
   (2) "Customer" means (A) the person or entity that contracts with
the home service provider for mobile telecommunications services, or
with a VoIP service provider for VoIP service, or (B) if the end user
of mobile telecommunications services or VoIP service is not the
contracting party, the end user of the mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service. This paragraph applies only for the purpose
of determining the place of primary use. The term "customer" does not
include (A) a reseller of mobile telecommunications service or VoIP
communication service, or (B) a serving carrier under an arrangement
to serve the mobile customer outside the home service provider's
licensed service area.
   (3) "Home service provider" means the facilities-based carrier or
reseller with which the customer contracts for the provision of
mobile telecommunications services.
   (4) "Licensed service area" means the geographic area in which the
home service provider is authorized by law or contract to provide
commercial mobile radio service to the customer.
   (5) "Mobile telecommunications service" means commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 20.3 of Title 47 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, as in effect on June 1, 1999.
   (6) "Place of primary use" means the street address representative
of where the customer's use of the mobile telecommunications service
or VoIP service primarily occurs, that must be:
   (A) The residential street address or the primary business street
address of the customer.
   (B) With respect to mobile telecommunications service, within the
licensed service area of the home service provider.
   (7) (A) "Reseller" means a provider who purchases
telecommunications services or VoIP service from another
telecommunications service provider or VoIP service and then resells
the services, or uses the services as a component part of, or
integrates the purchased services into, a mobile telecommunications
service or VoIP service.
   (B) "Reseller" does not include a serving carrier with which a
home service provider arranges for the services to its customers
outside the home service provider's licensed service area.
   (8) "Serving carrier" means a facilities-based carrier providing
mobile telecommunications service to a customer outside a home
service provider's or reseller's licensed area.
   (9) "Taxing jurisdiction" means any of the several states, the
District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United
States, any municipality, city, county, township, parish,
transportation district, or assessment jurisdiction, or any other
political subdivision within the territorial limits of the United
States with the authority to impose a tax, charge, or fee.
   (10) "VoIP service provider" means that provider of VoIP service
with whom the end user customer contracts for the provision of VoIP
services for the customer's own use and not for resale.
   (g) The amendments made to this section by the act that added this
subdivision shall become operative upon the enactment of that act,
except that subdivisions (a) and (b) of this section, as amended,
shall become operative on January 1, 2009.



41021.  (a) A service supplier shall collect the surcharge from each
service user at the time it collects its billings from the service
user, provided that the duty to collect the surcharge from a service
user shall commence with the beginning of the first regular billing
period applicable to that person which starts on or after the
operative date of the surcharge imposed by this part. If the stations
or lines of more than one service supplier are utilized in
furnishing the telephone communication services to the service user,
the service supplier that bills the customer shall collect the
surcharge from the customer.
   (b) Only one payment under this part shall be required with
respect to the surcharge on a service, notwithstanding that the lines
or stations of one or more service suppliers are used in furnishing
that service.



41022.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier shall be added to and stated separately in its billings to
the service user.


41023.  The surcharge required to be collected by the service
supplier, and any amount unreturned to the service user which is not
a surcharge but was collected from the service user as representing a
surcharge, constitute debts owed by the service supplier to this
state.
   A service supplier that has collected any amount of surcharge in
excess of the amount of surcharge imposed by this part and actually
due from a service user, may refund such amount to the service user,
even though such surcharge amount has already been paid over to the
board and no corresponding credit or refund has yet been secured. Any
service supplier making a refund of any charge to a service user
upon which surcharge is collected under this part from the service
user may repay therewith the amount of the surcharge paid. The
service supplier may claim credit for such overpayment against the
amount of surcharge imposed by this part which is due upon any other
quarterly return, providing such credit is claimed in a return dated
no later than three years from the date of overpayment.



41024.  Every service user in this state is liable for the surcharge
until it has been paid to this state, except that payment to a
service supplier registered under this part is sufficient to relieve
the user from further liability for the tax.
   Any surcharge collected from a service user which has not been
remitted to the board shall be deemed a debt owed to the State of
California by the person required to collect and remit such
surcharge. Nothing in this part shall impose any obligation upon a
service supplier to take any legal action to enforce the collection
of the utility users surcharge imposed by this part. The service
supplier shall provide the board with amounts uncollected which total
three dollars ($3) or more on a cumulative basis with respect to a
single service user along with the names, addresses and reasons of
the service users refusing to pay the surcharge imposed by this part.



41025.  If a bill is rendered to persons using intrastate telephone
services or VoIP service, the amount on which the surcharge with
respect to such services shall be based shall be the sum of all
charges for such services included in the bill; except that if the
person who renders the bill groups individual items for purposes of
rendering the bill and computing the surcharge, then the amount on
which the surcharge with respect to each such group shall be based
shall be the sum of all items within that group, and the surcharge on
the remaining items not included in any such group shall be based on
the charge for each item separately.



41026.  In the payment of the surcharge imposed by this part, a
fractional part of a cent shall be disregarded unless it amounts to
one-half or more, in which case it shall be increased to one cent.



41027.  Nothing in this part shall be construed as imposing a
surcharge upon amounts paid by any person when imposition of such
surcharge would be in violation of the Constitution of the United
States, the United States Code, or the laws of the State of
California, nor upon toll charges used in the collection and
dissemination of news for the public press or on charges for wide
area telephone service used by common carriers in the conduct of
their business.