Biannual Report on Truck Deliveries

Law Exempts Certain Truck Purchases From Sales and Use Tax. Chapter 226 of 2019 (AB 321, Patterson) created a sales and use tax exemption for truck sales that meet all of the following criteria:

• The truck has an unladen weight of at least 6,000 pounds.

• The seller delivers the truck to the buyer at a location within California.

• The buyer removes the truck from California within a specified time period.

• The buyer uses the truck exclusively outside of California or exclusively in interstate or foreign commerce.

Statutory Reporting Requirement. Assembly Bill 321 directs our office to submit a biannual report measuring the number of truck deliveries affected by the new exemption. To acquire these data, we have contacted two state departments, three industry associations, and three market research firms known for their truck expertise. Based on these inquiries, we have concluded that the statutory requirement is infeasible.

Cross-State Purchases of Large Trucks Are Uncommon. Although we could not acquire the data specified by the statute, some data from the Department of Motor Vehicles can help us put the general magnitude of cross-state large truck purchases into perspective. From January 1, 2020 through October 20, 2021, roughly 130,000 commercial vehicles over 6,000 pounds were purchased out of state and registered in California. On an annualized basis, these vehicles represent roughly 1 percent of the state’s commercial vehicle registrations.