The City of Palm Springs imposes a tax on the consumption of utility services including telecommunication services, electricity, and gas. This tax is collected by the utility service provider as part of their regular billing procedure and is then remitted to the Finance Department on a monthly basis.

On November 3, 2009, voters approved amendments to the City's Utility User Tax (UUT) ordinance (Ordinance 1765), which modernized the definitions of the Telephone User Tax (TUT) portion to include, among other things, VoIP, IP-TV, text messaging, paging, and private communication services. Effective March 1, 2010, the rate for telecommunication and video services subject to the UUT was reduced from 5% to 4.5%. The tax rate for electricity and gas services is unaffected and remains at 5%.

For more information concerning the City of Palm Springs Utility User Tax, contact Melissa Sanchez in the Finance Department at melissa.sanchez@palmspringsca.gov. 

Exemptions
Certain Federal, State, and local governmental agencies are exempt from paying UUT. In addition, individuals who meet certain income criteria can request an exemption from the tax by filing a Low-Income Exemption Application. To see if you qualify for this exemption, please refer to the Low-Income Exemption Requirements.

Remitting the Tax
Utility service providers must file a return and remit the full amount of tax collected to the City on a monthly basis. For telecommunication providers, the amount of tax collected in one month must be received (not postmarked) by the Tax Administrator on or before the twentieth (20th) day of the following month. For electricity and gas providers, the amount of tax collected in one month must be remitted to the Tax Administrator on or before the last day of the following month. Taxes not remitted to the City on or before the due dates are delinquent and are subject to a penalty of ten percent (10%) on the total amount of tax collected.

Forms/Related Information

Current Tax Rates:

Telecommunication and Video Services subject to UUT - 4.5%

Electricity and Gas Services - 5%

Remittance Forms:
Telephone Users Tax Remittance Form - Telecommunication and Video Services subject to UUT
Utility User Tax Remittance Form - Electricity and Gas Services

Low-Income Exemption Application (English) / (Español)
UUT Exemption Application (Non-Residential)
Ordinance 1765 (December 2, 2009)

Administrative Ruling 1.0 (December 2017)
Administrative Ruling 2.0 (December 2017)
Administrative Ruling 3.0 (December 2017)

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