91723 Sales Tax: Covina’s 10.50% Rate, Use Tax, and Filing

The sales tax rate for ZIP code 91723 in Covina, California is 10.50% as of 2026.¹ That total combines California’s 7.25% statewide base with 3.25% in Los Angeles County and local district taxes. It applies to most retail purchases of physical goods delivered to or sold within the ZIP code, and the same rate carries over to use tax on items you buy from out-of-state sellers.

How the 10.50% Rate Is Built

The 7.25% state portion funds California’s General Fund along with allocations to cities and counties.² The remaining 3.25% comes from voter-approved district taxes layered on top.

Most of the district portion goes to Los Angeles County transportation. Measure R, approved in 2008, and Measure M, approved in 2016, each add 0.5% for rail construction, highway improvements, and transit projects. Propositions A and C, dating back to the 1980s, contribute another 1.0% combined for bus and rail operations. A countywide general transportation tax adds to the total, and the City of Covina has its own voter-approved transaction taxes that fund police, fire, emergency medical services, and street repairs. These local taxes exist under California’s Transactions and Use Tax Law in Revenue and Taxation Code sections 7251 and following.³

Because the district portion is built from ballot measures, the total can shift. More on the pending Covina measure below.

What You Pay 10.50% On

California sales tax applies to retail sales of tangible personal property. Clothing, electronics, furniture, appliances, and similar goods bought in a Covina store or shipped to a 91723 address are taxed at the full 10.50% unless a specific exemption applies.⁴

The exemptions most people encounter:

Food products for home consumption are generally exempt. The exemption disappears when food is sold heated, served as a meal, or eaten on the seller’s premises.⁵
Drugs dispensed under a prescription are tax-free under Revenue and Taxation Code section 6369.
Prosthetic devices, orthotic braces, artificial limbs, and similar items designed to replace or support body function are exempt.⁶

Food rules trip people up. Hot bakery items and hot coffee sold at a separate price are actually exempt. The trigger isn’t temperature; it’s whether the food is part of a meal, eaten on-site, or sold where admission is charged.

Digital Goods Are Not Taxed

California does not impose sales tax on software, ebooks, music, streaming subscriptions, or other digital products delivered electronically. A physical DVD bought at a Covina store carries the full 10.50%; streaming the same movie owes nothing. The exemption exists because California’s sales tax targets tangible personal property, and purely digital transmissions don’t fit that definition.

The catch: if a digital purchase comes bundled with any physical medium (a flash drive, a printed copy, a backup disc), the entire sale becomes taxable.

Use Tax on Out-of-State and Online Purchases

When you buy something from an out-of-state retailer that doesn’t collect California sales tax, you owe use tax at the same 10.50% rate. This covers online purchases, mail orders, and items you bring back from another state to use at home.

Most consumers never deal with it directly because marketplaces like Amazon are required to collect it at checkout under California’s Marketplace Facilitator Act.⁷ Purchases from smaller out-of-state sellers or private parties can slip through. You have a few ways to report what you owe:⁸

On your state income tax return. The Franchise Tax Board includes a Use Tax Table in the return instructions for personal purchases under $1,000.
A one-time use tax return filed through the CDTFA’s online portal for larger one-off purchases. Payment is due by April 15 of the year after the purchase.
Qualified purchaser registration if you make more than $10,000 in annual purchases subject to use tax. You then register with the CDTFA and file annual returns.

The CDTFA cross-references purchase data from payment processors and marketplace platforms, so unreported amounts can surface during audits.

If You Sell in Covina

Any business selling tangible personal property in California needs a seller’s permit from the CDTFA before its first sale. The permit itself is free, though the CDTFA may require a security deposit against future tax liabilities.⁹ Even temporary operations lasting under 90 days (holiday pop-ups, rummage sales) need a temporary seller’s permit.

A seller’s permit also lets you issue resale certificates to suppliers. When you buy inventory you plan to resell, the certificate means your supplier doesn’t charge you sales tax on that purchase; tax is collected once, at the final retail sale.¹⁰ Using a resale certificate for personal purchases is a direct route to audit trouble.

If you sell through Amazon, Etsy, eBay, or similar platforms, the marketplace handles California sales tax collection and remittance on your behalf, regardless of whether you individually meet a nexus threshold.⁷ You still need a seller’s permit, and sales through your own website or other channels remain your responsibility.

Filing Returns

The CDTFA assigns a monthly, quarterly, or annual filing frequency based on your reported taxable sales when you register. Returns go through the CDTFA’s online portal. On each one, you report total gross sales, subtract nontaxable amounts (sales for resale, exempt food, items shipped out of state, sales to the federal government), and apply the 10.50% rate to the remainder. The CDTFA compares your figures against data from payment processors and marketplaces, so accuracy matters. Payment options include ACH debit and credit card, and the system generates a confirmation receipt to keep with your records.

Penalties

A late return or late payment triggers a 10% penalty on the unpaid tax. If the return and the payment are both late, the combined penalty still caps at 10%.¹¹ From there it gets steeper:

An additional 10% penalty applies if any part of a deficiency results from negligence or intentional disregard of the law.¹²
A 25% penalty applies to any deficiency attributable to fraud or intent to evade.¹³
A 40% penalty applies to tax collected from customers but never remitted to the state.¹²

Interest accrues on top of all penalties from the original due date. The CDTFA doesn’t need to prove bad faith for the negligence penalty; sloppy bookkeeping is enough.

Records

Keep sales receipts, invoices, resale certificates received from buyers, purchase invoices for inventory, bank statements, and register tapes or point-of-sale reports for at least four years. Don’t destroy anything sooner without written authorization from the CDTFA, and if you’re under audit, hold everything related to the audit period until it’s fully resolved.¹⁴ Digital records are acceptable as long as they’re organized and retrievable.

The Rate May Change in 2026

Measure CC, a proposed 0.25% transaction and use tax, goes before Covina voters in June 2026. If approved, the 91723 rate would rise to 10.75%, with revenue directed to police, fire, emergency medical services, homelessness response, and park improvements.¹⁵

Existing district taxes can also expire. Some include sunset clauses that require reauthorization. When one sunsets, it can leave room for county-level taxes previously held back by combined rate caps, so an expiring tax doesn’t always translate into a lower total. Check the CDTFA’s rate lookup tool at the start of each quarter to confirm you’re collecting or paying the correct amount.¹

1
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates
2
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rate Information
3
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Revenue and Taxation Code Section 7251
4
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax in California
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Common Sales and Use Tax Nontaxable Sales and Partial Exemptions
6
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Regulations – Article 8
7
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Tax Guide for Marketplace Facilitator Act
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. California Use Tax Basics – Paying Use Tax
9
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Obtaining a Seller’s Permit
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Resale Certificates
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Interest, Penalties, and Collection Cost Recovery Fee
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California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Regulation 1703 – Interest and Penalties
13
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Law – Section 6485
14
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Sales and Use Tax Records – Retaining Records
15
City of Covina. Measure CC