California Post-Production Sales Tax Exemption (Section 6378)
Businesses that do post-production work for film, television and video in California can buy qualifying equipment with a 5% partial sales tax exemption under Revenue and Taxation Code section 6378 and CDTFA Regulation 1532, sometimes called the teleproduction exemption. To qualify, at least 50% of your gross revenue must come from teleproduction or other post-production services, and the equipment must be used at least 50% of the time in that work in California during its first year. Hollywood DJ applies the exemption to qualifying orders once your signed CDTFA-230-K or blanket exemption certificate is on file.
How do I get the exemption at Hollywood DJ?
Get your certificate on file before we bill the order, then order through our sales team.
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Confirm you qualify
Check the revenue test and the equipment-use test below. The certificate is your statement, so if you are unsure, ask your tax advisor before you sign it.
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Fill out and sign a certificate
For ongoing purchases, use our pre-filled blanket certificate and submit it before you order. For a single order, get a quote from our sales team first, then fill out CDTFA's form CDTFA-230-K with the quote or PO number, each item and its price. Name Hollywood MI Inc. dba Hollywood DJ, 934 E 11th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021 as the seller.
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Submit it with the form on this page
Our team confirms it is on file, usually within 1 to 2 business days. We need it on file before we bill your order.
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Order through our sales team
Call 1-800-700-4542, email info@hollywooddj.com or visit our Los Angeles showroom, and tell us which items are for post-production use. We apply the partial exemption to those items on your invoice. With a blanket certificate, every order, including phone and showroom orders, also needs a written purchase order or email from you, before we bill, that refers to the certificate and lists the equipment you are claiming.
Website checkout cannot apply a partial exemption to individual items, so place exempt orders with our sales team.
How much will I save?
The exemption removes 5 percentage points from the sales tax on qualifying equipment, which is 5% of its price, wherever in California the order is delivered. Local and district taxes still apply, so the rate you pay depends on the delivery address.
| Delivery location | Standard rate | Rate on qualifying equipment |
|---|---|---|
| City of Los Angeles (incl. Hollywood) | 10.25% | 5.25% |
| Burbank | 11.00% | 6.00% |
| Glendale | 11.00% | 6.00% |
| West Hollywood | 11.00% | 6.00% |
| Culver City | 11.25% | 6.25% |
| Santa Monica | 11.25% | 6.25% |
| San Francisco | 8.625% | 3.625% |
Example: a $25,000 audio post upgrade delivered in Burbank carries $2,750 in sales tax at 11.00%. With a valid certificate on file, the tax is $1,500, a saving of $1,250.
Rates are CDTFA's published city rates effective October 1, 2026. Orders picked up at our showroom use the City of Los Angeles rate.
Who qualifies for the post-production exemption?
A qualified person is a business whose line of work is primarily teleproduction or other post-production for film, television, video or digital media, the activities in NAICS code 512191. Primarily means at least 50% of gross revenue, including intra-company charges, came from those services in your prior financial year. A business that did not meet the test in the prior year uses the 12 months after the purchase date instead, and owes the tax if it does not meet the test then. A nonprofit post-production establishment measures the funds allocated to it instead of revenue.
Usually qualifies
- Post-production houses and editorial companies
- Color grading and DI facilities
- Visual effects, CGI and animation studios
- Audio post and sound-for-picture facilities: sound editing, sound design and re-recording mixing
- ADR and foley stages
- Music scoring studios that record to picture
- Subtitling, captioning and dubbing companies
- Transcoding, duplication for post, restoration and archiving services
- A post department inside a larger company, if your records track its revenue and costs as its own establishment
Usually does not qualify
- Production companies whose revenue comes mainly from shooting
- Music-only recording studios (music counts only when it is recorded with synchronous picture)
- Portrait studios and commercial photographers, excluded by name (NAICS 541921 and 541922)
- DJs, bands, live sound and event production companies
- Any business, or separately tracked department, with less than 50% of its revenue from post-production services
What equipment qualifies?
Qualifying equipment is property a qualified business uses at least 50% of the time in post-production work in California, or to maintain, repair, measure or test that equipment, during its first year. For most equipment, what matters is how a qualified business uses it: a studio monitor on a mix stage can qualify, and the same monitor in a room that records albums does not. Furniture, vehicles and the other items listed below never qualify.
Covered by Regulation 1532
- Machinery and equipment, including component parts
- Audio and video monitoring equipment and scopes
- Computers and data storage, internal and external
- Software, both operating systems and applications
- Equipment racks, and custom-built consoles with open bays for the equipment that are not suitable for other uses
- Cabling, patch bays, routers, hubs and switchers
- UPS units, and air conditioning dedicated to cooling equipment
- Specialized lighting and sound insulation
- Repair and replacement parts with a useful life of one year or more
Not covered
- Furniture, including desks, tables, chairs and off-the-shelf studio desks (a mixing console is equipment, not furniture)
- Equipment used 50% or more of the time for administration, general management or marketing, such as office computers
- Equipment used mainly in production rather than post
- Inventory, vehicles, meals, equipment used to store products, and real property
Post-production gear we stock
What happens after I buy?
The one-year use test
The equipment must be used at least 50% of the time in qualifying post work in California during its first year. Time the equipment spends outside California does not count as qualifying use.
If the use changes
If, within the first year, the equipment leaves California, is converted to a non-qualifying use, or is leased to a business that does not qualify, and as a result it is not primarily used in qualifying work, you owe the exempted state tax plus interest. Selling or leasing it to another qualified business for qualifying use in California does not count as a conversion.
If your business does not qualify
The purchaser owes the exempted tax plus interest. A seller that took a complete certificate on time and in good faith is not liable for it (Regulation 1532(e)(1) and (e)(5)).
Keep records
Keep records showing how the equipment was used during its first year, and keep them for at least four years (Regulations 1532(j) and 1698(i)). Hollywood DJ keeps your certificate for at least four years after the last sale it supports, as the regulation requires.
Which certificate should I use?
CDTFA-230-K
CDTFA's official Partial Exemption Certificate for Qualified Sales and Purchases of Teleproduction or Other Postproduction Service Equipment. Get a quote from us first, then list the quote or PO number, each item and its price.
Download CDTFA-230-K (PDF, cdtfa.ca.gov)Blanket certificate
Covers your future qualifying orders. It uses the wording in Regulation 1532, Appendix B, with Hollywood MI Inc. dba Hollywood DJ already filled in as the seller. Each order needs a written PO or email that refers to it and describes the equipment.
Download the blanket certificate (PDF)Seller's address: 934 E 11th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021
Permit number: enter your California seller's permit number, or "Not Applicable" if you do not sell or lease goods in California.
Submit your exemption certificate
Upload your signed certificate and tell us about your business. It goes to our team at info@hollywooddj.com. Buying for resale or for a nonprofit instead? Use our Tax Exempt Form.
Frequently asked questions
What is the California post-production sales tax exemption?
It is a partial sales and use tax exemption, under California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6378 and CDTFA Regulation 1532, for equipment bought by businesses primarily engaged in teleproduction or other post-production services for film, television, video or digital media. It removes 5 percentage points of the state sales tax rate, which is 5% of the price, from qualifying equipment. Local and district taxes still apply.
How much does the post-production partial exemption save?
It saves 5% of the price of qualifying equipment. In the City of Los Angeles the rate on qualifying gear drops from 10.25% to 5.25% (CDTFA rates effective October 1, 2026), so $10,000 of equipment carries $525 in sales tax instead of $1,025.
Is the Section 6378 exemption still in effect in 2026?
Yes. Section 6378 has applied since January 1, 1999 and the statute has no end date. CDTFA's 2026 Business Taxes Law Guide carries Regulation 1532 with a 5% rate in effect since January 1, 2017, and CDTFA's current certificate is CDTFA-230-K, Rev. 3 (8-17).
Does a production company qualify?
Only if the company, or a post department it tracks as its own establishment, earns at least 50% of its gross revenue from post-production services. Regulation 1532 covers post-production and specifically excludes production services, so revenue from shooting does not count toward the test, and equipment used mainly for shooting rather than post services does not qualify. A department counts as its own establishment when your records track its revenue and costs separately.
Does a music recording studio qualify?
Only for work to picture. The regulation excludes the recording of music except music recorded with synchronous visual images, so a studio that mostly records albums does not qualify, while a scoring stage or audio post facility that mostly works to picture can.
Which form do I need: CDTFA-230-K or a blanket certificate?
Use CDTFA-230-K for a single order. It lists the purchase order or quote number, the equipment and the price, so get a quote from our sales team first. Use a blanket certificate if you will buy from us more than once. A blanket certificate covers future qualifying orders, but each purchase order or written order request must refer to it and describe the equipment you are claiming.
Can I claim the exemption on an order I place online?
Place exempt orders with our sales team by phone, email or in our Los Angeles showroom. Website checkout charges the full rate because it cannot apply a partial exemption to individual items.
When does my certificate have to be on file?
We need it on file before we bill your order. Regulation 1532(e)(1) treats a certificate as timely if the seller takes it before billing, within its normal billing or payment cycle, or at or before delivery.
Does the exemption cover local and district sales tax?
No. It removes 5 percentage points of the state rate only. Local and district taxes, and the rest of the state rate, still apply, which is why the City of Los Angeles rate drops to 5.25% rather than to zero.
Is this the same as the California Film and Television Tax Credit?
No. The Film and Television Tax Credit Program is a production incentive run by the California Film Commission. The Section 6378 exemption is separate: it reduces the sales tax a post-production business pays when it buys qualifying equipment, and you claim it by giving the seller a certificate.
Does Hollywood DJ decide whether my business qualifies?
No. You decide whether your business and the equipment qualify, and you sign the certificate. If the business or the use does not qualify, the purchaser owes the exempted tax plus interest. A seller that took a complete certificate on time and in good faith is not liable for it. If you are not sure, check with your tax advisor or CDTFA before you sign.
Sources
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 6378
- CDTFA Regulation 1532, Teleproduction or Other Postproduction Service Equipment (Business Taxes Law Guide, Revision 2026)
- CDTFA-230-K, Rev. 3 (8-17)
- CDTFA California City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates, effective October 1, 2026
Hollywood DJ sells equipment and does not give tax advice. This page summarizes CDTFA's published rules as of October 2026. Confirm your eligibility with your tax professional or with CDTFA. Last reviewed October 5, 2026.