By PHILIP DE SOUZA and

DEBRA ANNE DAVIS

Since 2005 the electronics industry in California has been dealing with the “Covered E-Waste Recycling Fee.” Under this regulation, retailers need to report the quantity of covered electronic devices, or CEDs, containing cathode ray tubes or with liquid crystal displays that they sell. These CEDs include video display devices such as computer monitors and televisions. Retailers must pay the state a fee on each regulated device that they sell.

But it’s not just a straight fee. There are different charges for devices that are more than four but less than 15 inches, for devices that are more than 15 but less than 35 inches and for devices that are “35 inches or more, measured diagonally.” Retailers must keep track of the quantity of such devices they sell in each size category and of the quantity that are returned to their store. Certain of these devices are exempt from the fee (such as those sold out of state or out of the country). And there is an administration fee.

What all this adds up to is a 22-line form which must be filed quarterly.

Why are these devices being regulated in this way? Because these CEDs pose a hazard to our environment if they are discarded inappropriately. While almost everyone (including us) would agree that it’s a good idea to encourage the recycling of electronic devices, most in the business community, we believe, would also agree that the system the California State Board of Equalization has devised in this case is unwarrantedly unwieldy.

And we know this is but one example from one industry and that there are countless others.

We believe the needs of business must be taken into account when new tax laws are being considered. For retailers, often small- or medium-sized businesses, who are the middlemen between consumers and producers, this is especially important; as the paperwork requirements mount, business costs mount, sometimes to the point where it’s not worth the cost to keep one’s doors open.

That’s a major reason to reconsider this law and others like it.

But we believe there’s another, even more important, reason why making clear, easy-to-follow laws is essential: integrity. Rather than making compliance more sure, complex rules instead make it easier for less scrupulous or less well-informed businesses to “fudge” the rules, at a detriment to us all.

We see the entire process. We want to follow the laws at our company, and we do follow the laws. We see that any compromises in our integrity ultimately will come back to haunt us. We know that a company that compromises its integrity when dealing with the government or when dealing with customers is likely to do the same with its employees. A breach of trust like that creates a soft cost in retaining employees and earning their loyalty.

Beyond legal documents, beyond verbiage, beyond agreements, there is trust. We have to be able to look a person in the eye and say, “We have a deal.” And we have to keep our word.

This is why we find complex, difficult-to-follow laws especially frustrating. We see the value in these laws, in generating revenue for the state and in helping to protect our environment. But the laws themselves should not be getting in the way of achieving the objective they’ve been set up to reach.

In the IT industry, we believe technology should make life easier. We don’t adapt to systems; they adapt to us. Thomas Jefferson, we think, would agree. “With the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times,” he wrote. We’re not saying that the government should completely adapt itself to business. But we are wondering, when these kinds of laws are proposed, who is looking out for the business community?

When they enforce these laws, the Board of Equalization auditors, like the rest of us, are just doing their jobs. But we need to make sure that, when new tax laws are proposed, our legislators are doing theirs, too.

Philip de Souza is president of Aurora Enterprises in Torrance and is immediate past chairman of the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce. Debra Anne Davis is a freelance writer.