What is the law in California re paying tax at restaurants?

Sometimes I'm told that if I take food to go, there is no tax to pay. Sometimes, I'm told that if I eat ON the restaurant premises, it IS taxable! Some restaurants (certain bagel chains) don't charge tax either way! Same applies to supermarkets. In one particular chain there is a prepared food bar (hot food) which IS taxable, yet the prepared, ready packed foods are apparently NOT taxable and neither are foods purchased at their cold deli.



I'm confused. And I think a lot of restaurant workers don't know the law either.What is the law in California re paying tax at restaurants?
The controlling phrase in the FTB regulations is that food is subject to sales tax if it is sold "in a form suitable for immediate consumption on or off the premises".



Your Subway sandwich, therefore, is taxable whether sold to eat in or take away. As another example, Nations Burgers sells pie 'to go' by the slice, includes a plastic fork, and charges sales tax. If you buy a whole pie 'to go', however, you don't get a fork, and they do not charge sales tax.



The laws are, as the poster above, said, confusing and sometimes contradictory, but that's the basic rule. (After all, if I buy an apple at Safeway, isn't it "in a form suitable for immediate consumption on or off the premises"?)



Richard
A lot of restaurants are confused. That's because the tax regulations are extremely confusing.



Generally, anything that is heated up and ready to eat is taxed. That includes your takeout pizzas, your take-out fried chicken, drive-thru hamburgers, etc.



Generally, any food that is intended to be consumed on the premises is taxable. That would include anything served at your typical sit-down restaurant, like Denny's.



Generally, ready-to-consume cold food that is taken to go is not taxed. So, your cold Subway sandwich, taken to go, should not be taxed. But it seems many Subways still charge tax. My guess is that it's probably because (1) the franchisee doesn't know the law, or (2) the franchisee knows the law, and just charges tax on everything to make an extra profit, or (3) the franchisee just charges tax on everything to avoid audits by the state tax authorities.



The regulations concerning tax on food are EXTREMELY complicated and EXTREMELY confusing. You can read them yourself: http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/reg1603.pdf



It's hardly surprising that many restaurant proprietors would be confused about what products are taxed, and what products are not.What is the law in California re paying tax at restaurants?
If you purchase food, you ARE paying a tax. The question is really how the restaurant calculates its tax. Most will add it on after they give you the initial total. Some include it in the prices individually. You are correct that most restaurant workers don't know the law. They don't have to in this case. They just have to give their total sales and turn in a percentage of that sales as tax to the city, county, and State. They have auditors and accountants who do that for them.
YOU don't pay sales tax. It is the responsibility of the business to pay sales tax on every dollar they make.



Businesses add this into their prices (even the one's who don't say so factor in the tax, like the bagel place).



It doesn't matter where you eat, if you buy the food, the tax gets charged.
You actually do pay sales tax. The business is required to collect the law on your behalf. They even get to keep a small portion for the costs of collection. It's really low.



rickinno is correct. If it's designed to be eaten on premises it's taxed.

lady gaga born this way album

area code look up