California Veteran Business License Fee Exemptions for Vendors and Sole Proprietors

Three sections of the Business and Professions Code free a veteran from licence fees. Two are about peddling and say the same thing for different licensing bodies, with different tests; the third reaches any sole proprietorship. Section 16001.7, in the chapter on licensing by cities, says every person who is honorably discharged or honorably relieved from the military, naval, or air service of the United States, and who is a resident of this state, may distribute circulars and hawk, peddle, and vend any goods, wares, or merchandise owned by that person, without payment of any business license fee, whether municipal, county, or state, and the legislative body shall issue the license without cost. It took effect January 1, 2009. Section 16102, in the chapter on licensing by counties, says every soldier, sailor or marine of the United States who has received an honorable discharge or a release from active duty under honorable conditions may hawk, peddle and vend any goods, wares or merchandise owned by him without payment of "any license, tax or fee whatsoever, whether municipal, county or State", and "the board of supervisors shall issue" the license without cost. It dates from 1941 and has not been amended since. How they differ. Section 16102 reaches a release under honorable conditions, so a general discharge qualifies, where section 16001.7 says honorably discharged or relieved. Section 16102 has no residency condition; section 16001.7 needs California residence. Section 16102 waives any license, tax or fee, not only a business license fee. Section 16001.7 adds distributing circulars, and its "air service" names the Air Force where the 1941 words name soldiers, sailors and marines. A veteran can rely on whichever is wider for the case. A county that issues licences is bound by section 16102 in terms, and several county ordinances still name only the old disabled wartime exemptions of sections 16001 and 16001.5; the county entries say where. Both are limited to goods the veteran owns, and both exclude spirituous, malt, vinous and other intoxicating liquor. Neither waives the permit itself, a seller's permit, a sales tax obligation, a zoning or sidewalk-vending rule, or any state professional license. The Court of Appeal held in Brooks v. Santa Clara County (1987) that section 16102 covers health permit and other regulatory fees for vending, not only revenue licences. Sole proprietors. Section 16001.8, added by Assembly Bill 498 (Stats. 2019, Ch. 227) and in force since January 1, 2020, says an honorably discharged or honorably relieved veteran who lives in California "shall not be required to pay any local business license fees for a business selling or providing services" if the veteran is the sole proprietor. It covers storefronts and service businesses, which the peddling sections do not, but only business license fees, not permit or inspection fees, and not a partnership or corporation. The Legislature declared it a matter of statewide concern, not a municipal affair, so it binds charter cities too. Several county and city pages still describe only the peddling exemption. There is no disability rating test and no wartime service test.