(a) When the board determines it is necessary for the efficient administration of this part, the board may, by written notice, require any person making sales to operators of catering trucks, operated out of that person’s facility pursuant to Section 114295 of the Health and Safety Code, who resell the property in the regular course of his or her business, to obtain evidence that the operator is the holder of a valid seller’s permit issued pursuant to Section 6067.

At any time as the board may specify in a written notice, but in no case more than three times in a calendar year, the board may require a person making sales to operators of catering trucks to submit to the board a listing of operators of catering trucks who purchase goods from that person. Each listing shall be provided to the board within 30 days after the date of the board’s notice, and shall include the name and seller’s permit number on file of each operator, or, for those operators who do not provide evidence of a valid seller’s permit, the operator’s name, address, and telephone number.

The board may also, by written notice, require a person making sales to operators of catering trucks to promptly notify the board if a newly purchasing operator does not provide to the person, within 30 days of the date of the first purchase, evidence of a valid seller’s permit.

Persons required by written notice of the board to obtain evidence, or provide a listing or notification, who fail to comply, may be subject to a penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each failure.

(b) Persons making sales to operators of catering trucks who do not have valid seller’s permits or whose permits have been revoked shall report and pay the tax on property as if the property were sold at retail at the time of the sale. Nothing in this section shall relieve any operator of a catering truck of his or her obligations as a seller under this part.

(c) If the board finds that a person’s failure to comply with this section is due to reasonable cause and circumstances beyond the person’s control, and occurred notwithstanding the exercise of ordinary care and the absence of willful neglect, the person may be relieved of the penalty imposed by this section.

Any person seeking to be relieved of the penalty shall file with the board a statement under penalty of perjury setting forth the facts upon which he or she bases his or her claim for relief.

(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1023, Sec. 413. Effective September 29, 1996.)