Taxation: information returns: vacant commercial real property.

Senator Menjivar's commercial property vacancy reporting legislation would require California commercial property owners to register with the Department of Tax and Fee Administration and submit annual information returns detailing property vacancies. The returns must specify which buildings were vacant in the previous calendar year, the duration of vacancies, reasons for non-occupancy, and whether factors like active renovation, legal barriers, or natural disasters contributed to the vacant status.

The Department would aggregate this data by ZIP code and publish annual reports on its website showing vacancy rates, common reasons for extended vacancies over 182 days, and the prevalence of various contributing conditions. Property owners who fail to file timely returns face penalties of $100 per property, though these may be waived for circumstances beyond their control. The Department can grant filing extensions of up to one month for good cause, or three months in cases of disasters or state emergencies.

To implement these requirements, the Director of Finance may authorize General Fund loans to the Department, to be repaid through collected penalties. The reporting system would remain in place through January 1, 2031, at which point these provisions would be repealed. The bill's findings note that this data collection aims to inform potential future policies addressing commercial property vacancies and their effects on local economies and tax revenues.