El Dorado County Business License Fee Exemption for Veterans

El Dorado County Code section 5.16.140 exempts from the payment of any licence or permit fee "every veteran of the armed forces of the United States who presents a discharge or release from the service under honorable conditions" for two kinds of business: hawking, peddling or vending any goods, wares or merchandise the veteran owns, except alcoholic beverages, whether as an itinerant business or at a fixed place of business; and selling or providing services where the veteran is the sole proprietor of the business. The veteran still obtains the licences and permits; only the fee is waived. The section dates to Prior Code section 6248 and was restated by Ordinance 5187 on December 5, 2023. How it sits with the State statutes. The first clause tracks Business and Professions Code section 16102, which exempts a veteran with an honorable discharge or a release under honorable conditions from any licence, tax or fee to sell goods the veteran owns; see the California entry. The second clause goes further than section 16102 and tracks section 16001.8, under which a veteran who is the sole proprietor of any business, services included, owes no local business licence tax. The section's other clause, for commercial travellers selling at wholesale, is not veteran-specific.