It’s not every day a government program becomes less burdensome for small business owners and entrepreneurs, but it can happen.
In my recent op-ed “A Qualified Mess,” I described the many problems plaguing the “Qualified Purchaser Program” — a use tax collection program targeting small business owners. I invited impacted business owners to send me their feedback via a survey on my website, and I shared this feedback with my colleagues and BOE staff.
I also joined small business owners and taxpayer advocates at a press conference urging reforms to this program. This NFIB-sponsored event was well-attended and led to stories by CalWatchDog, Capital Public Radio, The Orange County Register, The Sacramento Business Journal and others.
These efforts are yielding fruit. I’m pleased to report that my colleagues on the Board have agreed to make changes to the Qualified Purchasers Program, including eliminating the automatic registration of businesses and allowing businesses to leave the program if they don’t owe tax or their income falls below the $100K threshold for a specified number of years. (For more details, see this issue paper.)
The Board has solved a good part of the problem. Now it’s the Legislature’s turn to further fix this failed law or, better yet, repeal it entirely.