(a) An all volunteer fire department is a consumer, and shall not be considered a retailer within the provisions of this part, of all tangible personal property sold by it, including, but not limited to, hot prepared food products and clothing, if the profits are used solely and exclusively in furtherance of the purposes of the all volunteer fire department.
(b) For purposes of this section, an “all volunteer fire department” means an organization that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) A member shall not be paid a regular salary, but a member may be compensated on an hourly or per incident basis.
(2) The purpose of the organization is to protect the lives, property, and environment within a designated geographical area from fires, disasters, and emergency incidents through education, prevention, training, and emergency response.
(3) The organization is regularly organized for volunteer fire department purposes and qualifies as an exempt organization, either under Section 23701d or 23701f of this code or under Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, having official recognition and full or partial support of the government of the county, city, or district in which the volunteer fire department is located, and that has functions having an exclusive connection with the prevention and extinguishing of fires within the area of the county, city, or district extending official recognition for the benefit of the public generally and to lessen the burdens of the entity of government that would otherwise be obligated to furnish that fire protection.
(c) This section shall not apply if an all volunteer fire department, in each of the two preceding calendar years, has gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or more.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 78, Sec. 1. (SB 38) Effective September 11, 2020. Repealed as of January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)