Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
HonorableOsogo 8. Sheppard
coBptro11.r of Rlblzc Aeoolmt8
Austin, Toxas,
Dear Slrc opinion. IO. 0-m
RN Does APt1010
1944, you say that
ii.251, Ch. 212, Acts
slaturs 1931, haa
Ch. 184, Aots of the
ae$ularse881 1941, by omitting
cortalawords
as follov8:~
the tax will aoorue
on VIII, subdlvlslon3 ol ths
p ~~lder
a te8 th a l
t Con-
ThO
to oegulato oommroe vlth
iho soveml states, and with the
‘Thers ts hereby a tax of one
imposed
011ths one h'iin'ied
rt thereof, or
’ cementon every person in this State mmufaotur-
lng or producingin and/or import%ngoemuat Into
this State, snd vho thsreaftsrdistributor,..sells
or uses the same in intrastate0oxoseroQ.381d
HO& oeorgo Ii. Sheppard - Pago a
tu shall aaorus on and 1s l-se4 on the first
krastato dlstrlbutlon,sale or usa; provl4ml
hovooor, no tax shall bo paI4 uoopt on on0 A,
dlatrlbutionor use. The person liabls for said
tax is hereby 4eflns4to be a '4lstributor.~"
Bubsootlons(b), (o), (4) and (8) prov140, ro-
speotlrol~, for ths of payment of the tax, the reports
tlm
to bo a6da to ths Comptroller, tho maor to bo kopt by the
“4lstrlbutor”, sml the 01~11 an4 oremlnalpenaltlosto bo
a880880a against any person rlotitlngany pmvlslon thersof.
8ubsoctlon(f) providest
” $ tax shallk lmosed UP04
aw la&t&~ 8::. 0~ trnnsaotlon,nor upon
smrsal 0. dlstributlonor us0 uautt un4rr
llth uii& Stati olblWeGal Constltut@ns, aad
no o th ellko
r oaoupatlontax shell bo lnmossd
~byany mualol~ corporation on oomnt. ’
Subsootlon (a) YU amend.4 by ArUole XII of
R, 0. 8,~ Chip. 184, Aots of tho Rsgulnr Suslon oi tho 47th
Legtsl&ure, 1941, so as to thereafter maa as follotfst
%ore 18 her&y lJspoua a tax of tlto aaq
0tt0w In i/2) 0w8 0tt the 0tt0 huawa ~100~
xmun48.or fraotlottal xmrt themoi. oi 6amnt on
hory $oostxt ln this &at0 tmnufroturltbg00 pro-
duoing la and/or importingaemetttinto this State,
and vho thoroafterdistributes,so118 or USOSJ
proviaoa, hov~ror, no tax shall be prLa axoept on
otaoulo, cUstributlonor uso. Tho rs~'llablo
fybf”la strlbutor' ,
tax is bernby define4as a f#z
ai00st0a a8 herslnaft*r DFOVibSd~”
The smtdatory aot ma4e three atbtorldl ehsngos In
tit8 or*itml lot, as follovst
*1. Thr tax vas cm0a rtms ottoan4
one-fourth(1 1140) WAtS t0 tV0 Ur4 OttO-hslf
2 i/2) 00ttt8 0ttth0 one hunama (loo) p0ttna8, or
raotloaalpart thereof,of oemnt . . .
2.
Act vero omLtt.4 in ths smmxlatoryaott
Hon. oeorgo Ji. shoppard- mgo 3
mm8 la intr6stats0omm8r00, Sal4 tax sb811 aacruo
011ma is xx11po864
on tba rest intrastate distribu-
tlon, ulo Or use,'
3. Tha amtdatory 8at a8404 for tin ilmt
tia, lOllOq4agVords aftor ths Word “dl*t*lbutor’
th
in tb8 last s@xturoeof subsootion (a)t “to bo allo-
8atod as horelnafter pmtvi40a.@
Xanifostly 8ubsretlOa(a) of tb8 o r i@ a a ll
ot 4l4
not lmpou a tax an ,iatwstate ml*8 or saler to 4 fowlgn
aouatvy, but w its sxprrss terms iinit~a tfH tax to "8vory
petson !JA this Stat0 arnufaoturlag0~ producingla sad/or
iatiwotato sale or transaotion. * .* T&l8 subssotlaabar never
b88n 88t0tta0a.
"Ordfnarlly, tho mar0 fast that 8igniriwt vords
at+8odttoa from tho re-QnaOtmsat 00 amottdmat or a statute la-
ports a oonoluslvoprosumpt2on that the Lo lslatursintan to
lxolu40 tb8 objsot th e r sto io lo0o~llsh8
ro !3by tb8 8bandolud
*o r 4 8 l ” Ban llsMos Bwtlst Am%my ve Bu 088, 292 8. U. 626
In Amsrloanauroty Cog,of lfsvYork v. Axta s 1 Co., 36 b. Y. (2)
;;:itthoCoPPisslonof Appaals, sp8aklagtbrougbjuago Short,
"Tt ~111 bo j~88um84that tho kglSlatW8, In adOpting
th0 mdt88ttt, iat8ttd8a t0 ork8 SOIWItang0 ht th0 0xi8tbg
law, and thareforo th6 oourtsvi11 mdsavor to glv8 mm8 sffoot
to the saoa4mnt.”
As stat&4lbovo, tho atssadatory aot 0 8a the rats
from ~110and cm,-fourth(1 l/40) to two an4 one-half 2 l/2)
csnts,md omitted "slgnlfloant vocds" vhloh limitedtbs tax to
Hon. Oeorge H. Sheppard- Page 4
intmrtak dlstributluns, ml48 or ~808. l3rmtt 18 given to
the cbaqe La ths pato, beoaussths leglslatlvelntlratfon Is
clesr upoa that polnti but oan vs say it is squallyolssr that
the teglslatwe intuuls4, by tha anmadmnt 0r submotion (a)
only,, to impose a tu on l.nterstete sales or oemnt, or sale8
thereofma4s to f3r8lgn oountriu? Ye thlak not,
Xf ,lt urn not for
the faat that subsoetlon(t) was
not mmxlsd; we Voti4 say that
it VI8 Quite obviousthat the Logls-
laturs latsn4ed,Lo adOptlAgth0 ammidmnt, to nmk0 soms champ In
the rxlstlnglaw wit4 referam to the ta%abll.ltyof Sales and
distributionsmade irrlntorstato~omsoreeand to forofgnnoun-
tries, aad we would eaddavoito lo o r ta ltt
Ltr.&ntaMon an4 give
ef-fsotthereto. But it 18 l OrrrdUmlrule of statutoryCOLL-
strwtlon that effect must be given to ths who10 statute sn4 every
prt thero0r. *ido Nator oil ca. v. Bean, ua 8. w. (2) 358.
The orlglnalssctlonas an&do4 and'tp unalteredseationsof
t& s act lare to bs read together. Vol. I, Sutherland
. .
StatutoryConstruotlon,3rd Edftlon,page 431.
In Amr1can Surety co. of new York v. Aeel co,,
35 S. W. (2) 7l5, 719, tho Court Said:
*To arrive at tbo Intentionof ths Legis-
latum, in enaotiagtho Bawmlmentof 19W, to Artlole
5160, vhloh vas the original rot of the Legls&ture
6u1thi8 SUbjSCt,
it 18 thS dUtya Of 00UF88, t0 lOOk
grimarllyto tho aot Atself as an entiretyi and to
l&¶&PS~4 the legal erieat of the ttaadmat enaoted
by ths Leglslaturu,it must be aonshlsred in oomec-
tlon Vlth the crXglnalact, ana that vhloh had bean
dorm tlaoreutvler. A par0loularseatloaof 68x8 mt Qoi
tim fA l~t~.~a, when aabted, muat be Gmrtnud in
vlov 0f ths uistonaao pi tho original ste~tute es It
stands &to* Elm 8mn4mont 1s introbaud} it and a11
smalons OS tha old l&v mast bo repnbd as 8 l-m-bon-
Lous whole, as oonnooto4 rlth an4 Mturally aatlng
UDOD w&oh OtheP. Shipleyv. aohool Distrlot(Tut.
Corn. App.) 250 3. W. 159, 160; Co14 v* 3tatr, loi
Tax. 472, 170 8, Y. 1036.*
yhoa vo vlev ths
orlglnalstatuto 88 it stood after
the mnt was &opted aad
apply the foregoing&Ass 0r sta-
tutoaJ oonstruotlob, vo rid4 cm4 oae iixpreselon of the legislative
Intuitup031our question,wisely, that "no tax &all be loosed
uVw say lnterstatoaale or transaction."
ha. Ooorgo 8. 8happu4 - Iage 5
US ansv~ our guastioa,aoi the tax ~111 not
loomo on intorstatmsaiOS or ml08 to a fonl.8tt
oounta7.
YOUPS vary tntly
T0DtBT