State serves up simpler sales tax regulation for Food Truck

Tired of digging for change when it comes to buying from your favorite food truck? The next time you step up to the window to purchase that bacon-encrusted grilled cheese sandwich, you might not have to thanks to a new regulation from the State Board of Equalization. The policy was created to streamline sales and make it easier for small business owners and their customers.

When Anthony Kehlenbeck parks his mobile food truck, Cowboy Shaman, at the Manchester Center on Friday afternoons it's all about speed of service. Menus are small, dishes are simple to prepare, and it's easy to get the food out fast.

"The customer pays a flat rate and then we pay the tax on it," Said Kehlenbeck

It didn't always used to be this way. As of July 1st, a new state regulation made it legal for mobile food vendors to include the tax in the price of a sale. The idea? To reduce the wait as fewer customers fumble for change at the point of purchase.

"At times we get 30/40 people in line and if we're spending a lot of time making change or having them have to reach into their pockets, it doesn't allow us to reach as many clients, customers as we can," said Sacramento Food Truck Vendor Andrew Dreski.

Prior to the ruling, vendors were required to post signs stating the tax was included in the menu prices. If they failed to do so, vendors were later required to report and pay up, but the process was confusing as rates changed with each city the food was sold in.

"Businesses want to do their taxes right, but what they need is simple rules and simple laws they know they can follow and they're not going to get caught in some trap along the way," said Board of Equalization Member George Runner.

The new regulation allows food truck operators to charge the same price for each item regardless of where they're selling and without additional signage; eliminating the need to recalculate the sales tax at each stop and freeing up time for cashiers to focus on their customers.

"Anything that simplifies things for the customer and the owner makes it a more pleasurable experience," said Kehlenbeck.

An experience you can now savor with a side of less fuss.

"In the Valley here we need to express our abundance of variety,' said Kehlenbeck. "We have more ethnic variety than a lot of places. We should be promoting food as our greatest asset; food and the people who grow it."

The B.O.E. said one of the reasons for the change, is there are now more than 4,000 registered mobile food trucks in California and the movement is growing.