(a) The college exemption is as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 3 and § 5 of Article XIII of the California Constitution.

(b) An educational institution of collegiate grade is an institution incorporated as a college or seminary of learning that requires for regular admission the completion of a four-year high school course or its equivalent, and confers upon its graduates at least one academic or professional degree, based on a course of at least one year in flight test technology or flight test science, for which the master’s degree program has been approved by the California Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education or the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, on a course of at least two years in liberal arts and sciences, or on a course of at least three years in professional studies, such as law, theology, education, medicine, dentistry, engineering, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, architecture, fine arts, commerce, or journalism.

Terms Used In California Revenue and Taxation Code 203

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Person: includes any person, firm, partnership, general partner of a partnership, limited liability company, registered limited liability partnership, foreign limited liability partnership, association, corporation, company, syndicate, estate, trust, business trust, or organization of any kind. See California Revenue and Taxation Code 19

(c) An educational institution of collegiate grade is not conducted for profit when it is conducted exclusively for scientific or educational purposes and no part of its net income inures to the benefit of any private person.

(d) Without prejudice to the right to assert an exemption otherwise available under subdivision (a), (d), or (e) of Section 3 of Article XIII of the Constitution, a property tax under this division shall be imposed upon that portion of the bookstore property determined to be generating the unrelated business taxable income, as defined in Section 512 of the Internal Revenue Code, to the extent property is both of the following:

(1) Owned by an educational institution of collegiate grade or used by a nonprofit corporation operating a student bookstore affiliated with an educational institution of collegiate grade.

(2) Primarily devoted to bookstore use that produces income that is taxable as unrelated business taxable income.

This tax shall be determined by establishing a ratio of the unrelated business taxable income to the bookstore’s gross income as defined by the Internal Revenue Code. That percent shall be the maximum percentage of the bookstore property on which a property tax can be levied.

At the end of a fiscal year when unrelated business income has been generated, the nonprofit organization shall file with the assessor copies of the organization’s most recent tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 562, Sec. 1. Effective September 18, 1998.)