LAKEWOOD - Officials with the state's Board of Equalization will visit retail businesses in the Lakewood zip code of 90715 in the coming weeks to verify business permits.Letters will be sent out to businesses later this month to inform them of the visit, officials said. Board of Equalization officials will also verify permits at businesses in Glendale, Newhall, Mira Loma, Del Mar, San Diego, Anaheim, Moreno Valley, Fresno, Pacific Grove, Daly City, San Mateo, Coyote, Fair Oaks, Orangevale and Rancho Cordova. The visits are part of the Statewide Compliance and Outreach Program that was launched by the state in September 2008. Board of Equalization officials have visited more than 250,000 businesses statewide, with 341 zip codes receiving notifications. The goal of the program is to verify that businesses are properly registered and reporting their taxes and/or fees. State officials said more than 3.5 percent of businesses operating in California do so without the appropriate permits or licenses that allow for collection of sales and use tax, as well as other taxes and fees. Non-compliance is a part of the more than $2 billion sales and use tax gap - the difference between the amount of taxes owed and the amount of taxes paid. When officials visit, business owners are asked business-related questions but are not asked for personal financial information. There are seven teams of approximately eight people each, located throughout the state, that conduct door-to-door visits based on zip code.

********** Published: September 22, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 23