Thousands of California businesses must register with the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) to report and pay use tax.

A new use tax registration and reporting law requires qualified purchasers to file returns by April 15 of each year, reporting all purchases subject to use tax from the previous calendar year, beginning with purchases made during 2009.

Beginning in October 2009, the BOE notified 180,000 California businesses by letter that they meet the definition of a qualified purchaser, and they are required to register with the BOE because of a new registration law added to the Revenue and Taxation Code by Assembly Bill x4-18. Even if a business did not receive a letter, but meets the criteria of a qualified purchaser, they must register, file returns, and pay any use tax owed. A qualified purchaser is a business that:

Receives at least $100,000 in gross receipts per year from business operations (including both in-state and out-of-state operations);

• Is not required to hold a seller’s permit with the BOE;
• Is not a holder of a use tax direct payment permit;
• Is not required to be registered with the BOE; and
• Is not otherwise registered with the BOE to report use tax To simplify the registration process, new applicants will be automatically registered to eFile their returns for 2007, 2008, and 2009 beginning in March 2010. However, applicants who have a use tax liability and wish to file their 2007 and 2008 returns prior to the availability of eFiling should go to their local BOE office, register for a use tax account, and request paper returns. Paying 2007 and 2008 liabilities, if any, will stop interest from accruing.

For more information, visit www.boe.ca.gov.

In the current sluggish economy many people are desperately looking for work. There are ways to make your job search less frustrating. The problem is that you may not know where to start or how to be successful in that search. How committed are you? There are many obstacles that prevent people from finding jobs from being committed, including wanting to sleep in later in the morning and walking around the house in pajamas. These are nothing but distractions. If you start work at 8am and have been getting up at 6am., do not change your schedule. Your job search should begin fully dressed at 8am.

The next step is to have a razor-sharp resume. This is very important, especially if you have been out of work for quite a while or you are new to the process. If you don’t have the money to pay a professional to create your resume, there is online information and many books available on creating resumes for specific jobs. It’s important that your resume speaks to the job you’re applying for. A resume that doesn’t will quickly be tossed in the outbox trash.

Regardless of the resume type, it is important to be able to quantify your accomplishments. For example, if you saved the company 20 percent because of a process you created or you developed an initiative that was implemented by the company, put it in writing and explain the results of your action. Keep your resume up to date, take a look at it every six months or so, especially if you completed a new project, assignment, or joined a community-based organization.

Now it’s time to create your own job search team to help advise you while you are looking for a job. For established job seekers, a sampling of team members can be professional colleagues, business associates and past co-workers. For newer job seekers, team members can be close friends, parents, college professors and alumni. The team you select should be willing to provide you with honest feedback as you embark upon your journey.

Job seekers should be networking. Going through the newspaper’s job ads and online career listings are OK, but nothing takes the place of networking. You may ask, “Network with whom, where and when?” The short answer is everyone, everywhere, and all the time. In fact, members of the job seeker’s job search team should be some of the same people the job seeker should be networking with. Many of these people have valuable contacts. Other networking opportunities can be found just by volunteering for a nonprofit organization. Volunteering shows commitment and initiative. Even if you aren’t doing anything too mentally taxing, you can increase your industry knowledge and may discover a new career path that you hadn’t thought of before. Plus, you’ll be helping other people.

Many nonprofits need volunteers with experience. If you have accounting experience, there may be a nonprofit out there that needs your expertise. There have been job seekers who have turned their volunteer opportunity into real jobs.

After each step in the process, keep a log of what occurred. It’s important to keep your head up, maintain positive thoughts and don’t quit. There is a job out there waiting just for you.

 BizFed (Los Angeles County Business Federation) recently announced the election of its new board officers, among them will be John Kelsall, President, CEO of the Greater Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, as the Ad Hoc Communications Committee Vice Chair.

BizFed, which launched two years ago representing about 40 business, trade and industry groups, now serves 72 organizations with well over 100,000 businesses across Los Angeles County.