For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meaning respectively ascribed to them by this section, unless otherwise specifically provided:
"Administrative headquarters" means a location where the principal business transacted consists of providing administrative or management-related services such as, but not limited to, record keeping, data processing, research, advertising, public relations, personnel administration, legal and corporate headquarters services, to other locations where the operations of the same business are conducted which lead more directly to the production of gross receipts.
"Administrator" means the revenue officer or designee.
"Business" means any business, commercial enterprise, trade, calling, vocation, profession, or any means of livelihood whether or not carried on for gain or profit, and includes the offering of real property for rental by the owner of such property.
"Certificate" or "business operations tax certificate" means the receipt given by the department of finance, city of Sacramento, which indicates that the tax imposed by this chapter has been paid.
"City" means the city of Sacramento, a municipal corporation, in the state of California.
"Director of finance" means the director of the department of finance of the city of Sacramento or designee.
"Engaged in business," "carrying on business," or "transacting business," herein used interchangeably, means commencing, conducting, operating, managing, engaging in or carrying on of a business by any person, whether done as owner or by means of an officer, agent, manager, employee, servant, or lessee of any of them, whether operating from a fixed location in the city or coming into the city from an outside location to engage in said activities.
"Gross receipts," except as otherwise in this chapter specifically provided, means the gross receipts of the preceding calendar year or part thereof or such other fiscal year approved by the administrator, and is defined as follows:
The total amount actually received or receivable from all sales; the total amount of compensation actually received or receivable for the performance of any act or service, of whatever nature it may be, for which a charge is made or credit allowed, whether or not such act or service is done as part of or in connection with the sale of materials, goods, wares or merchandise; and gains realized from trading in stocks or bonds, interest discounts, rents, royalties, fees, commissions, dividends, or other emoluments, however designated. Included in "gross receipts" shall be all receipts, cash, credits and property of any kind or nature, without any deduction therefrom on account of the cost of the property sold, the cost of materials used, labor or service costs, interest paid or payable, or losses or other expenses whatsoever, except that the following shall be excluded therefrom:
1. Cash discounts allowed and taken on sales;
2. Credit allowed on property accepted as part of the purchase price and which property may later be sold, at which time the sales price shall be included as "gross receipts";
3. Any tax required by law to be included in or added to the purchase price and collected from the consumer or purchaser;
4. Such part of the sale price of property returned by purchasers upon rescission of a contract of sale as is refunded either in cash or by credit;
5. Receipts of refundable deposits, except that such deposits when forfeited and taken into income of the business shall not be excluded;
6. Amounts collected for others where the business is acting as an agent or trustee to the extent that such amounts are paid to those for whom collected, provided the agent or trustee has furnished the administrator with the names and addresses of the others and the amounts paid to them. This exclusion shall not apply to any fees, percentages, or other payments retained by the agent or trustee;
7. As to a retail gasoline dealer, a portion of his receipts from the sale of motor vehicle fuels equal to the motor vehicle fuel license tax imposed by and previously paid under Part 2 of Division 2 of Revenue and Taxation Code of the state of California;
8. As to a retail gasoline dealer, the special motor fuel tax imposed by Section 4041 of Title 26 of the United States Code if paid by the dealer or collected by him or her from the consumer or purchaser;
9. Cash value of sales, trades or transactions between departments or units of the same business.
As to any person engaged in the business of manufacturing or processing any goods, wares, merchandise, article or commodity at a fixed place of business within the city which does not generate gross receipts as defined herein within the city, gross receipts shall be deemed to include the total of all expenses incurred in the manufacturing or processing of such goods at the business location within the city for payroll, utilities, depreciation, and/or rent.
As to any person engaged in the business of operating an administrative headquarters at a fixed place of business within the city who does not have gross receipts as defined herein within the city, gross receipts shall be deemed to include the total gross payroll of all persons employed at such administrative headquarters.
"Manufacture" or "process" embraces all the activities of a commercial or industrial nature wherein labor or skill is applied, by hand or machinery, to materials so that as a result thereof of a new, different, or useful article of tangible personal property or substance of trade or commerce is produced. Manufacture shall include the production or fabrication of specially made or custom made articles.
"Person" includes all domestic and foreign corporations; associations; syndicates; joint stock corporations, partnerships of every kind; clubs, Massachusetts business or common law trusts; societies, and individuals, transacting and carrying on any business in the city, other than strictly as a salaried employee.
"Sale" or "sell" includes and refers to the making of any transfer of title, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, to tangible personal property or other property for a consideration; and to the serving, supplying or furnishing, for a consideration, of any tangible personal property or other property fabricated or made at the special order of consumers who do or do not furnish directly or indirectly the specification therefor. A transaction whereby the possession of property is transferred but the seller retains the title as security for the payment of the price shall likewise be deemed a sale. The foregoing definitions shall not be deemed to exclude any transaction which is or which, in effect, results in, a sale within the contemplation of law. "Sale" includes both wholesale and retail and sales by vending machines dispensing tangible personal property.
"Valid certificate" means a certificate which complies with all the requirements set forth in this chapter, and any certificate which does not comply with said requirements shall not be deemed to be a valid certificate for the purposes of this chapter or any of its sections. (Prior code § 23.01.102)