Placentia, CA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

Chapter 6.16 of the Placentia Municipal Code is headed Gross Receipts Tax. Section 6.16.010 says every person described in its classifications who engages in business within the city shall pay a license tax based upon annual gross receipts, unless the title exempts that person. The classes are retail (§ 6.16.020), wholesale or manufacturing (§ 6.16.030), services (§ 6.16.040) and auto and trailer sales (§ 6.16.050), and each class points to a fee in Title 5.

Retail sales under Section 5.08.450 pay a $33 minimum plus fifty-five cents per one thousand dollars, or fraction thereof, of gross receipts in excess of ten thousand dollars. Wholesale or manufacturing under Section 5.08.460 pays a $33 minimum plus twenty-eight cents per $1,000 of gross receipts above twenty thousand dollars. Services under Section 5.08.470 pay a $33 minimum plus fifty-five cents per $1,000 above $6,000. Each of those three schedules lets a new business opening in the city pay only the minimum fee during the first year in which it is licensed. Auto and trailer sales under Section 5.08.480 pay $115 for the first $100,000 of gross sales, plus five and one-half cents per $1,000 or fraction thereof above $100,000.

Section 6.16.060 handles mixed and unlisted businesses. A business that sells at wholesale and also at retail must file separate statements of each and obtain separate licenses. If the statements are not filed, or the records cannot separate the two parts, the retail rates apply and all business done is treated as retail. Miscellaneous or sundry business not listed in the code pays the retail fee under Section 5.08.450. Section 6.16.058 covers a local office that only performs administrative or storage functions for sales made elsewhere: its tax rests on the total cost of maintaining the office, including wages, rent, telephone, postage, utilities and janitorial expenses.

The appeal runs through the license collector. Section 6.16.060(c) lets a licensee or applicant who believes the business is misclassified because of circumstances peculiar to it apply for reclassification. The collector investigates and assigns the class shown to be proper, then gives notice by serving it personally or mailing it from the Post Office at Placentia, California. The applicant has fifteen days to request a hearing in writing. The hearing is set before the city council within 15 days, on at least 10 days' notice, and the council's findings are final.