california food truck taxesSACRAMENTO, CA – While California’s Board of Equalization is happy that the “recovering economy has fueled a mobile food movement led by chefs from high-end restaurants, and innovative cooks looking to elevate the food truck experience,” it wants to make sure they pay their taxes.

Food trucks are such small businesses they sometimes fly beneath the state’s radar, but the BOE has created special “registration and reporting requirements for mobile food vendors,” and this week reminded vendors they must keep track of sales to determine their tax liability.

Pricing Menu Items “Sales Tax Included”
If the price of your menu items includes sales tax, you must post a notice for your customers that says “All prices of taxable items include sales tax.” You should report sales
tax at the rate in effect at the location your sales are made.

“Many mobile food vendors are unaware of their registration and reporting requirements,” the BOE said.

And just as food trucks offer wares from many different cultures, the BOE prints up its strictures in plenty of languages — they’re available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean, for starters.

Find the entire article by Steven E.F. Brown at the San Francisco Business Times <here>