SECTIONS 60701-60708 - California Statutes

REVENUE AND TAXATION CODE

SECTION 60701-60708

60701. It is unlawful for any person, firm, association, or
corporation, or any officer or agent thereof, through false
statement, trick or device, or otherwise, to do any of the following:
(a) Obtain diesel fuel for export and fail to export it, or cause
it not to be exported.
(b) Divert diesel fuel, or cause it to be diverted, from
interstate or foreign transit begun in this state.
(c) Return diesel fuel to this state and sell or use it, or cause
it to be used or sold in this state, without complying with the
provisions of this part and without notifying the supplier from whom
the diesel fuel was originally purchased of that act.
Any person violating any provision of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 60706.
Each shipment illegally diverted or illegally returned constitutes
a separate offense. The unit of each shipment is the cargo of one
vessel, one railroad car load, one automobile truck load, one truck
and trailer load, one drum, one case, or one can.

60702. It is unlawful for any supplier or other person to conspire
with any person, firm, association, or corporation, or any officer or
agent thereof, to withhold diesel fuel from export, or to divert it
from interstate or foreign transit begun in this state, or to return
it to this state for sale or use so as to avoid any of the taxes
imposed by this part.
Each shipment illegally diverted or illegally returned constitutes
a separate offense. The unit of each shipment is the cargo of one
vessel, one railroad car load, one automobile truck load, one truck
and trailer load, one drum, one barrel, one case, or one can.
Any person violating any provision of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 60706.

60703. Any person who acquires diesel fuel outside this state and
uses the diesel fuel for the operation of a qualified motor vehicle
within and without this state or the United States, is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 60706 unless that
person is an interstate user who holds a valid diesel fuel tax
license or diesel fuel trip permit as defined in Sections 60120 and
60122.

60704. Any person who makes, issues or signs a false or fraudulent
claim for refund under this part is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable as provided in Section 60706.

60705. (a) Any person required to make, render, sign, or verify any
return or report who makes any false or fraudulent return or report
with intent to defeat or evade the determination of an amount due
required by law to be made is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as
provided in Section 60706.
(b) Any person who willfully aids or assists in, or procures,
counsels, or advises in the preparation or presentation under, or in
connection with any matter arising under this part, of a return,
affidavit, claim, or other document which is fraudulent or is false
as to any material matter, whether or not the falsity or fraud is
with knowledge or consent of the person authorized or required to
present the return, affidavit, claim, or document is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 60706.

60706. Any violation of this part, except as otherwise provided, is
a misdemeanor. Each offense shall be punished by a fine of not less
than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five thousand
dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding
six months, or by both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the
court.

60706.1. In addition to the fine or imprisonment, or both, each
person convicted under Section 60706 shall pay, in the court's
discretion, up to two dollars ($2) for each gallon of diesel fuel, or
portion thereof, knowingly removed, entered, blended, or delivered
into a fuel tank, or possessed, kept, stored, or retained for the
purpose of removal or removed, or offered for removal, or entry, or
entered, or for sale, or actually sold, or offered for sale, or for
the purpose of use, or actually used, or for the purpose of delivery
into a fuel tank, or actually delivered into a fuel tank, or offered
for delivery into a fuel tank, in violation of Section 60706, as
determined by the court. Proceeds of the assessed penalty shall be
distributed to the treasurer of the county in which the action was
brought. After reimbursing the prosecuting agency for its costs of
prosecution, and after deducting the county's reasonable costs of
administration, the remaining proceeds shall be distributed to the
Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. Funds
distributed pursuant to this section to the Motor Vehicle Fuel
Account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
pay administrative costs of the board to enforce this part.

60707. Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, any person
who willfully evades or attempts in any manner to evade or defeat
the payment of the tax imposed by this part is guilty of a felony
when the amount of tax liability aggregates twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000) or more in any 12-consecutive-month period. Each
offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand
dollars ($5,000) and not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000),
or imprisonment for 16 months, or two, or three years, or both the
fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

60707.1. In addition to the fine or imprisonment, or both, each
person convicted under Section 60707 shall pay, in the court's
discretion, up to two dollars ($2) for each gallon of diesel fuel, or
portion thereof, knowingly removed, entered, blended, or delivered
into a fuel tank, or possessed, kept, stored, or retained for the
purpose of removal or removed, or offered for removal, or entry, or
entered, or for the purpose of sale, or actually sold, or offered for
sale, or for the purpose of use, or actually used, or delivery into
a fuel tank, or delivered into a fuel tank, or offered for delivery
into a fuel tank, in violation of Section 60707, as determined by the
court. Proceeds of the assessed penalty shall be distributed to the
treasurer of the county in which the action was brought. After
reimbursing the prosecuting agency for its costs of prosecution, and
after deducting the county's reasonable costs of administration, the
remaining proceeds shall be distributed to the Motor Vehicle Fuel
Account in the Transportation Tax Fund. Funds distributed pursuant to
this section to the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account shall be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay administrative costs of
the board to enforce this part.

60708. Any prosecution for violation of any of the penal provisions
of this part shall be instituted within three years after the
commission of the offense, or within two years after the violation is
discovered, whichever is later.