DV411 caters to professional video, film and television (post) production businesses, and most of its California customers qualify for California Teleproduction Exemption. The regulation exempts qualified taxable transactions from the state portion of the sales tax which is 5.5% as of 2013. For the City of Los Angeles, this makes the effective sales tax rate 3.5% rather than 9.00%. The savings on a $1,000 taxable item is then $55, and on $10K worth of taxable goods - $550.
To qualify, fill out and sign Section 6378 (Blanket) Exemption Certificate and submit it to us prior to sale. The blanket exemption will also apply to all future applicable transactions with DV411.
Alternately, fill out page 1 of the Certificate for a one-time exemption.
(Note: if the linked documents do not load, try a different browser or get the form on BOE site: boe.ca.gov/sutax/pdf/parttelecert.pdf. In our testing, Internet Explorer v.9 through 11 is hiccupping; Chrome, Firefox and Safari seem to be fine.)
Relevant information:
Full text of California Board of Equalization Regulation 1532 (PDF)
California State Board of Equalization: Teleproduction Exemption information
Section 6378 Exemption Certificate on CA BOE site (PDF)