Joseph J. Byron III v. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Joseph J. Byron III claims that defendant California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (“the State”) violates his constitutional rights by attempting to collect sales tax generated from his retail sales of medical marijuana, as well as related penalty assessments issued after Byron failed to pay those taxes. Byron filed this action on August 2, 2019. See ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”). On August 26, Byron filed a first amended complaint. See ECF No. 6 (“FAC”). The FAC alleges a single claim for relief, pursuant to U.S.C. § 1983, for violation of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Id. 9] 15-17. Specifically, according to Byron, the State’s collection proceedings (1) are arbitrary, because they are not supported by any law authorizing the collection of the tax, (11) would require Byron to incriminate himself because medical marijuana is a controlled substance, and (iii) fail to provide Byron a “meaningful hearing” to challenge the validity of the tax. Id. 4] 7, 16-17. The State moved to dismiss the FAC pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) on November 5, 2019. …