Requirements and Guidelines

1. A license must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a COVID-19 renewal fee waiver during the period of March 1, 2021, through February 28, 2023:
   1. The license type shall be one of the following: 02, 23, duplicate 23, 40, 41, 42, 47, duplicate 47, 48, duplicate 48, 49, duplicate 49, 50, 51, 52, 57, duplicate 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 68, 69, 71, duplicate 71, 72, duplicate 72, 74, 75, duplicate 75, 76, duplicate 76, 77, 78, duplicate 78, 83, 86, 87, duplicate 87, 99;
   2. The licensed premises’ primary operation was disrupted by health and safety restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
   3. The license shall have been active during the period from March 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, inclusive.
      1. For purposes of these requirements, “active” means:
         1. License privileges were exercised at any time during the specified period at the licensed premises. This does not include any license that was surrendered or that was indefinitely suspended for the entire period specified;
         2. A catering permit that is issued in conjunction with a license that was itself “active” as defined above, even if the catering permit was not itself used at any time during the specified period; or
         3. A seasonal license for which business operations were restricted due to health and safety orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic barring the exercise of license privileges during the specified period.
2. For each license that is eligible for a waiver of renewal fees, the licensee shall complete the renewal fee waiver form, ABC-SCF, and submit prior to the expiration date of the license as provided on the renewal notice, plus any extensions provided by the Department as noticed on 2021 Renewal Payment Extension. The renewal fee waiver form must be completed as follows:
   1. The licensee’s name must be the same as it appears on the license certificate.
   2. The renewal fee waiver form shall be signed by the licensee or its authorized designee certifying under penalty of perjury that all of the criteria listed in section (a) are met.
   3. A separate renewal fee waiver form must be submitted for each eligible license, even if it is owned or operated by the same person or entity. If a license has multiple license types associated with it, only one renewal fee waiver request is required. All license renewal fees for licenses that are not eligible for a waiver under these requirements must be paid. Failure to timely pay renewal fees for associated license types that are not eligible to receive a renewal fee waiver shall result in the imposition of penalty fees and may subject the entire license, including those license types that are eligible to receive the renewal fee waiver, to revocation or cancelation.
   4. For the licenses that expire during the first full three months following enactment of this relief program, the department may extend the waiver submission deadline, not to exceed 60 days, as necessary to effectuate the intent of the authorizing statute and to allow licensees a reasonable amount of time to request a fee waiver.
3. Special requirements for winegrower (type 02) licenses: The annual renewal fee waiver is available only to type 02 licenses that produced less than 100,000 gallons of wine during the fiscal year in which the license expires. The amount of wine is reported each year on the annual report submitted to the Department pursuant to section 23327. Because this report is not submitted to the Department until after the license expiration date, if a licensee anticipates that the report will show less than 100,000 gallons of wine were produced during the preceding fiscal year, then the waiver request should be submitted. If the report thereafter shows that the licensee was not actually eligible for the waiver, then the full amount of fees shall be payable upon notification from the Department. Failure to submit the waiver as required by these guidelines shall not entitle the licensee to a refund if it is later determined that the production of wine was less than 100,000 gallons. Duplicate 02 license types are not eligible for the fee waiver.
4. The Department will accept completed renewal fee waiver requests either by mail or electronically.
   1. If submitted by mail, the licensee shall complete all required forms in blue or black ink. The renewal fee waiver form and all required attachments must be sent to the address listed on the waiver request form.
   2. To submit the fee waiver electronically, the licensee must follow the steps as listed at Renewal Fee Waiver page. Only licensees that will have their entire renewal balance waived with the approval of the fee waiver can submit their request electronically. Licensees with a remaining balance due must submit their fee waiver by mail.
   3. Although it is not necessary to submit the renewal notice in conjunction with the renewal fee waiver form, it is recommended to ensure that there are no delays in processing or errors in any remaining fee determinations.
   4. License renewal fee waiver requests should not be submitted more than 60 days prior to expiration date of a license. If a renewal fee waiver request is submitted prior to this time, it may not be processed and may result in the fee waiver request being returned or denied.
5. If the Department requires additional information to process a renewal fee waiver request, it will contact the licensee using the information provided upon the renewal fee waiver request form. If a licensee fails to provide the Department with the further information requested within 10 business days of the request, the renewal fee waiver request shall be denied. If the contact information provided on the renewal fee waiver request form is incorrect or incomplete and the Department is not able to contact the licensee, the Department may deny the renewal fee waiver request.
6. The Department will notify a licensee of the denial of a renewal fee waiver request using the contact information provided upon the renewal fee waiver request form. If the contact information provided on the renewal fee waiver request form is incorrect or incomplete and the Department is not able to contact the licensee, the Department shall send the denial notification to the licensee’s address of record with the Department. If the renewal fee waiver request is denied, the licensee shall submit all fees then due prior to the expiration date of the license or within 15 days of the date of the denial notice, whichever is latest. Failure to submit fees as provided herein shall result in the imposition of penalty fees, or license revocation or cancelation, pursuant to law.
7. Licensees will receive their renewed license certificate if the waiver is approved and any remaining renewal fees are paid. The license certificate will be mailed to the licensee’s mailing address of record.
8. Approved renewal fee waiver requests shall be effective only for the one-year license renewal period. Licensees must submit a renewal fee waiver request to receive a renewal fee waiver during the annual license period of March 1, 2021, through February 28, 2023, inclusive, in compliance with these requirements.

Contact

For additional information,
contact your local ABC District Office.