In California, it seems that everything must be registered and reported to the state. A spot bill, SB 789 (Menjivar) was recently amended to require that individuals and entities owning commercial property in the state to register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. In addition, owners would be required to file an information return each year with the Department. The return would be required to disclose, inter alia, whether any buildings or portions of buildings were vacant during the prior calendar year.

The bill does not define "owning" and thus it would seem to require every person with an ownership interest in commercial property to register and report to the DTFA. Rather unhelpfully, the bill would require persons to "endeavor to ensure" that the same property is not listed on multiple returns. How this endeavoring is to occur is not explained.

Although the bill does not impose any new tax, it seems that likely that it is the first step in that direction, especially since the returns and disclosures are made to a taxing agency - the DTFA. In fact, a prior version of the bill would have imposed a tax on vacant property.