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Sale of goods, wares, or merchandise for any purpose other than resale in the regular course of business, including restaurants and peddlers.
The retailing of perishable and non-perishable food type items, such as, but not limited to meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits, nuts, bread, dairy products, non-alcoholic beverages, etc., from a fixed location.
(1) The selling of new or used motor vehicles at wholesale or retail.
(2) Manufacturing or processing any goods, wares, merchandise, articles or commodities at a location within or outside of the City of Richmond and selling such items at retail and/or wholesale in the City of Richmond; may deduct the value of raw materials actually used from their calculation of annual gross receipts; only the value of raw materials actually used during the same time period as the time period used to calculate the person's annual gross receipts may be deducted.
Providing entertainment, recreation or amusement, including but not limited to: theatrical or musical entertainment, all shows or exhibits, exhibiting motion pictures, athletic clubs, sports and athletic exhibitions or contests, pools or billiard rooms, bowling alleys, golf courses, circuses or penny arcades.
Providing short-term lodging in facilities known as hotels, motor hotels resort hotels, and motels that may offer food and beverage services, recreational services, conference rooms, convention services, laundry services, parking, and other services; also includes offering all or portion of a residential building or structure for short-term dwelling, sleeping or lodging for example, by offering a bedroom, home, or other living space on a third-party platform for short-term residential use.
A person who conducts or carries on a business that is licensed as a contractor by the state of California and who undertakes to, or offers to undertake to, or purports to have the capacity to undertake to, or submits bids to or does themselves or by or through others construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, highway, road, railroad, excavation, or another structure project, development or improvement or to do any part thereof, including the erection of scaffolding or other structures or works in connection therewith.
Any business providing services such as but not limited to website hosting, internet and data exchange, repairs or improvements to or on real and personal property, renting or leasing personal property to businesses or persons, packaging, transhipping, storing, or providing services to persons such as but not limited to, laundries, cleaning and dyeing, shoe repair, barber and beauty shops, nail and skincare services, photographic studios, parking lots, and garages, and title guarantee companies. Includes warehouses — added by the City Council, with no definition given.
Business management services, website development services, finance services, insurance services, real estate services, medical and other health services, educational services, legal engineering and architectural services, accounting/auditing/bookkeeping services, commission merchants, conducting/managing/carrying on a business of furnishing reports on persons to insurance companies for underwriting purposes, or furnishing reports on persons to mercantile concerns as a basis for extending credit savings and loan and other financial institutions, conducting/managing/carrying on the business of lending money or advancing credit or arranging for the loan of money or the advancing of credit as principal or agent, where the obligation to repay the money lent or debt incurred or to compensate for the advance of credit is secured by a lien on real property, or some interest in real property, unless such business is exempt therefrom by law; software as a service, platform as a service and infrastructure as a service.
Based on payroll, not gross receipts; a location where the principal business transacted consists of providing administrative or management related services such as, but not limited to, recordkeeping, 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.
Any business activity not otherwise defined.
MEASURE U/Business License Tax
In November 2020, the City of Richmond voters passed Measure U Business License Tax which changed the calculation of the business license tax effective January 2022. Previously businesses would be taxed on the number of employees they had in the City of Richmond – except different rates were established for the cannabis businesses and property rentals.
The new tax is a progressive tax based on a business’s gross receipts made in the city of Richmond. For those businesses with$250,000 or less of gross receipts in the City of Richmond, their business license tax would be $100.00. If your gross receipts in Richmond are more than $250,000 a year, you would pay a progressive rate depending upon what classification of business you are in and what level of gross receipts you have. If you have an office in Richmond but have no gross receipts in Richmond, you would pay a business license tax based on your City of Richmond payroll.
To compare what you are paying now with what you will be paying to go to the Council of Business & Industries (COI) home page and use this Calculator Tax for Measure U.
You can also contact Katrinka Ruk at kpruk@sbcglobal.net or call 510-260-4820.
10/24/21 UPDATE MEASURE U / BUSINESS LICENSE TAX:
Measure U Gross Receipts Business License Tax | Richmond, CA – Official Website
Update on Measure U (12/8/21)
BUSINESS LICENSE GROSS RECEIPTS TAX
Beginning January 1, 2022, businesses in Richmond will pay taxes on gross receipts earned during 2021 in the City of Richmond. Businesses have been notified of the change enacted by a November 2020 tax measure the city council placed on the ballot. The tax is no longer calculated by the number of employees at a business; instead, the new taxes are calculated using gross receipts. Businesses earning less than $680/day ($250,000/year) will benefit from a new flat tax of $100, but those earning more will see significant increases in their taxes.
The Richmond Chamber of Commerce (RCOC), Council of Business & Industries (COI), 23rd Street Merchants Association and others opposed the ballot measure because there was no outreach to the business community before it was put on the ballot, there were no economic impact studies done, and the rate increases were unreasonable. These rate increases are substantial and higher than any other city in the Bay Area.
Businesses must pay the tax based on all money received from sales within Richmond. Tax rates vary based on business type and amount of revenue generated. Rental property owners will also see a raise their business license tax.
How did this come about? City council instructed staff to investigate ways to increase revenues, however, the job was delegated to “Lift Up Richmond” an organization led by SEIU, the Richmond Progressive Alliance, and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). This group’s proposal was posted 3 business days before the city council approved to apply Berkley’s flat rates as the starting point of a progressive rate structure copied from a draft Oakland ballot measure; a measure that was postponed for two years to establish an inclusive panel to shape the rate structure. Berkley and Oakland do not have progressive taxes.
How much is the city expecting to raise with this increase? The city provided varying dollar amounts to be raised – from $6.2M in the city’s August 5, 2020 presentation to $9.6M in the financial analysis for the Measure U tax ballot.
The COI and RCOC requested the City to review the financial impact of the progressive rates, to ensure they are equitable for businesses while still providing the necessary increased revenue – we are still waiting.
Several businesses, including Rigo Auto Sales, Hotel Mac Restaurant, Brezo’s Restaurant, Kaleidoscope Café, Oakstop Richmond Co-Working space and Macy’s, have left the city in 2020 due to COVID and the impending increase in business license tax.
The COI, RCOC, 23rd St. Merchants and Richmond Main St. Initiative recommended a number of equitable modifications to the ordinance, but none of these recommendations were incorporated. The business organizations will continue advocating for an equitable alternative progressive tax. City staff will provide a presentation on the tax at the 12/07 council meeting. We are asking businesses & the community to join in telling the council how this progressive tax will impact them.