As a result of State Legislation, the City of Los Angeles amended LAMC Section 21.22 to provide authority for the Director of Finance to issue a Tax Exempt Registration Certificate to Charitable, Non Profit or Religious Institutions where these institutions are entitled to an exemption as a matter of State or Federal Law.
If your organization is recognized as Non-Profit or Charitable under IRS Section 501 or State Tax Section 23701d, you may apply for an exemption [2 pages 32 KB] from the Los Angeles City Business Tax.
Refunds of Overpayments
If you have been paying business taxes and your organization meets the above criteria, you may be eligible to apply for a refund [4 pages, 97 KB]
A refund claim is valid if filed within a period of one year from the date of the claimed overpayment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Regarding Business Tax Exemption For Non-Profit, Charitable or Religious Organizations
How do I know if my organization is eligible for business tax exemption?
As a result of state legislation, the City of Los Angeles is now authorized to exempt businesses from paying gross receipt tax when the organization is recognized as Non-Profit, Charitable or Religious under IRS Section 501 or State Tax Section 23701d. Additionally, your organization is exempt from paying business taxes no matter how the tax is measured if your organization is recognized under the IRS Section 501C and under the State Tax Section 23701d.
How do I apply for exemption?
If your organization meets the above criteria, fill out an application for exemption and enclose a copy of your IRS and/or State documentation mentioned above that recognizes you as a Non-Profit or a Charitable Organization. Then mail the documents to the address listed on the exemption form.
My organization has been paying taxes, but is exempt by the IRS and/or State as mentioned above, what do I need to do?
You may apply for a refund under LAMC Section 21.07. This section provides for a refund of overpayment when the refund claim has been filed within a period of one year from the date of the claimed overpayment. Please fill out a refund claim form and mail to the address listed on the form. Additionally, you need to apply for exemption of business taxes as mentioned above.
After I apply for the exemption, what happens?
After your application and documents are reviewed and approved, your organization will be issued an exempt Tax Registration Certificate by mail. Every three years we will send you a renewal notification asking if the manner in which you conduct business has changed, or if your name and/or address has changed. In order to keep your account active, you will need to send the notice back to our office as requested in the renewal notification.
What if the organization’s name has changed or is not the same as what is on the IRS and/or State Exemption?
If the name on your IRS or State Exemption is not the same, you will need to submit documentation to support the differences in the name such as your corporate name change papers. This should be submitted with your application for exemption or if you have an exempt certificate already, please notify us by mail as soon as possible and include the documents to support the change. After we make the change, you will be mailed a new exempt Tax Registration Certificate.
What if my organization has a change of address?
Please notify us by mail as soon as possible. After we make the change, you will be mailed a new exempt Tax Registration Certificate with the new address on it.
What if the manner that my organization conducts business has changed, or there are additional business locations and/or business activities?
We will need to know what has changed and/or what additional business activities the organization is conducting. Depending on what you are doing will determine if an additional exemption application should be completed or not. Please contact us or visit one of our office locations.
What if I have additional questions?
Please contact us.
Where do I mail the application?
City of Los Angeles
Office of Finance
Attn: Special Desks/Exemptions Unit
200 N Spring St., Room 101
Los Angeles, CA 90012