Wheelchair Lifts Exempt From Sales Tax

Oller Introduces Measure To Exempt Installation Of Wheelchair Lifts From Sales Tax

Feb 27, 2001

 Oller Introduces Measure To Exempt Installation Of Wheelchair Lifts From Sales Tax

Assemblyman Rico Oller (R-San Andreas) today introduced legislation to exempt the costs to build and install wheelchair lifts from sales tax. Currently, only wheelchair lifts installed in motor vehicles are exempt from sales tax.

Specifically, Oller's Assembly Bill 2655 would exempt from state sales tax the cost of a wheelchair lift as well as the cost of materials and labor to install it.

Oller authored AB 2655 at the request of Granite Bay resident Robert Goodell, who has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and is presently confined to a wheelchair. Last year the staff at the State Board of Equalization, citing current law, denied Mr. Goodell's request for a tax exemption for the cost of installing a wheelchair lift for his home.

State Board of Equalization Board Member Dean Andal (R-Stockton) helped draft Oller's AB 2655 and is a formal sponsor of this measure.

"Because of a quirk in current law, persons using wheelchairs are being forced to pay sales tax on installing wheelchair lifts for their homes while installation in vehicles is exempt," said Assemblyman Rico Oller. "The costs of installing wheelchair lifts, regardless of location, should be exempt from the sales tax. I look forward to working with Mr. Goodell and Board Member Andal in implementing this common sense change in law."