We would like to express our support for the Restaurant Community in California. 

The COVID-19 virus has forced the State of California to order the cessation of all in-house / dine-in service by restaurants. This has effectively put all dine-in primarily restaurants out of business, overnight.  The only exception is if they can develop a To-Go, Take-Out, and/or Delivery business model.  Also essentially overnight.

Therefore, we support a declaration of a Sales Tax Holiday on To-Go, Take-Out and Delivery food ordered from restaurants with a formerly Dine-In component in the State of California.  We support this Sales Tax Holiday continuing until restaurants are once again permitted to return to their previous, dine-in, business models. 

We support this proposal for the following reasons:

1.  The sales tax law is extremely complicated. Restaurants attempting to transition from dine-in to take-out do not have the resources or time to navigate the details of correct taxation in this incredibly trying time for the industry.

2.  Larger grocery outlets are having a hard time keeping staples on the shelves and have staff being pushed to their limits.  Front line workers are turning to prepared foods because they frankly have no time for anything else.  During this crisis, hasn't take-out become essentially another kind of grocery -- less of a luxury and more of a necessary source of food for some?

3.  By creating a sales tax holiday, we will open up a way for dine-in establishments to add a service charge that can be used to assist their workers who normally receive tips, without increasing the price of their offerings... allowing them to remain competitive.  We would support some kind of requirement for restaurants to do this in order to take advantage of the sales tax waiver.

4.  By offering this sales tax waiver only to formerly dine-in establishments, we hope to give some momentum to those newly transitioning to take-out and delivery.  We want establishments that do not have the benefit of a history of advertising take-out and delivery services to gain some extra draw for the public. 

Every bit of help we can give dine-in restaurants with their new requirements and limitations benefits the community in countless ways.  Most importantly, it can mean the difference between a restaurant being able to re-emerge when this crisis is over, and having to close forever.

Please add your name, and support our California Restaurants!