Government Code section 37101
(a)
The legislative body may license, for revenue and regulation, and fix the license tax upon, every kind of lawful business transacted in the city, including shows, exhibitions, and games. It may provide for collection of the license tax by suit or otherwise. If the legislative body levies a sales tax under the authority of this section, it may impose a complementary tax at the same rate upon use or other consumption of tangible personal property.(b)
Any legislative body, including the legislative body of a charter city, that levies a license tax pursuant to subdivision (a) upon a business operating both within and outside the legislative body’s taxing jurisdiction, shall levy the tax so that the measure of tax fairly reflects that proportion of the taxed activity actually carried on within the taxing jurisdiction.(c)
No license tax levied pursuant to subdivision (a) that is measured by the licensee’s income or gross receipts, whether levied by a charter or general law city, shall apply to any nonprofit organization that is exempted from taxes by Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 23701) of Part 11 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code or Subchapter F (commencing with Section 501) of Chapter 1 of Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the successor of either, or to any minister, clergyman, Christian Science practitioner, rabbi, or priest of any religious organization that has been granted an exemption from federal income tax by the United States Commissioner of Internal Revenue as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or a successor to that section.
Source:
Section 37101, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=37101. (accessed May 4, 2025).