Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

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.\ OFFICE OF THE ATI-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
-- AUSTIN
0-o.MNW
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v Eonomble George H. Shepperd
Caaptgwller of Public Aacowite
AdIn8 Texas
mar sirr
of OholJl store
I operatedby
This 18 Itn answer to your re
~ovrpbsr25, 1941, In whioh you re
quertlons t
on the ahaln
,andwhl&4ls
eea ae lnoidont-
ao&.red thmugh
rade-lnarJpliraoer
ion under Section 5 or the classifica-
tion und8r Seotlon5a3
"QueryThree. Suppose it be held thst the ooapany
stort*sln nuch mm11 towns vould be Uabls for the ohaln
etore tsrx If they sold any OF 411 of the above type
a
tasde-Inappllaaoea,oould they legltiorrrtel~
dlrpcre
of auah trbde-iaappllmeea by merely tmasforrlng
them to tovna ofnore thans,ooo pepulatianvlwawthe
cgp~xalaalruadyp.syw$ the ahaLa atore t&x anawh
"QueryFour. Aaatm~ingthbt thla veuld be a
legltlmateway of dispoalngof euoh Wade-In a plirn-
tea, then would ouch atoroain tovm of mom &a
3,000 populationwhfah l-o a lmb d y p s)-ing tb o h b in
aton tax under Seotion 58 of Artlelolllld P.O.) be
lisble to pay a duplleatetax under Soatlcm5 by rea-
aon of ita dlapoaltlonof trade-in owodltles vhluh
are neither gas or eleotrloalqpllmaoea but 8re ap-
pllanoesauoh 08 lae box refrlgoratora, oil, ooal or
keroaeaebumen? "
The pertinentpart of Artlole7060 as amended,Act8 1941,
47th Legialaire, Rowe Bill Ho. 8, Articlev, seation1, read8 b8
fOllov8I
“And protldedrUrth8p thfit utll%tlea p8* bn
oceupatlon tax und6r thle Aptlele -11 n& hnwfter
be requiredto y the lioeimefee impoaedin Artialo
5a,.HouseBill LB0o. 18, Chapter400, Aota of pclrty-
fourth Leglalrture, fop t& privilegeof r&l* pa
and eleotrioappllaneeaand rtr for the repriM
theroof, lntouna of three kJiLu%d (~,Ooo o-;w
in pcpulatlonaoccrdingto the lfkttpnoed L
cenaua.’
Query One. Aaaumiag that the aton in lerrrted ia a tovn
Of lea8 than 3*000 population,la oxbmpt fram the ohala Itore tax
undetr Article 7060, aa amended,and ia eng8gad la the ~elllngor
meturalgas appllmow, aa inai&M,aZ to it8 utilitybualnera,end,
baceptatrade-Inappliuraeaaf~a part of tha sale Flee of it8
Zrbtumblgo9 appU.anoea,it la our opinioatht auox atoro ia en-
titled to sell aueh trade-in6ppl%w#ea vlthmt subfesting Itself
to the chain store tax,
The acaeptanaeof au& trade-inappl¶maees,liapart pa?-
sexitof the sale price of the new a llamea, la a part of the
oonaldsratlm for the sale and ia 03 yba l?ialdentOf th.4bualmJaa
of the seller. He la equallyeuthoriacdto oonvertsuah trade-In
I BopombbleGeorgeH. shepphtrd,
Page 3
into aaah a8 he would b8 to a*11 for aesh in the flnt
epgli43aae
I
l&aace, so long ead0n.l~aolmger tho OOCOptUtcecad UlO af
awh trade-larppllanoea,la only l.wUlentelto hl8 pr%whrybual-
-88 of Purnlah`` nDtvrs2 gas SM selling asturPl g86 appllamer.
Our guprmm Court haa raid:
"The same pemm or corpontloa may oerry cn
severalQlffezeRtbu6lnea8e8, and, of wura6, aa? ba
taxed inrespeat ofe8eh~ but* th48L6gtsl*ture
has definedmd taxed ena bualaear, It la not to k
raamed that it ham lnteadedto &gala tu the use
business u&w unother mme, nor la it to be rammed
that It has intendedto tax, aa a dlatinet bualneaa,
vhloh la a mere lnoldentof imotherbusiness that
vhlchh8a beendeflnedsnd tuedraa whole." Texas
Co. vs. St@ams, 100 Tex. 620g 103 S.W. 481.
The faata outllaod In your Inquiry !bdle@te that the
nller fmgager in the selling of the meraheadl88 laqulnd ebaut
aalr inoldeatally end oooariosP1~ for tha purpose of oonvo~tiag
tt.uule prloe of bir nevme~&WMlae Late mh. Such eollia(t
bow Saoidentaltoh.lrmalabu8inoarandhehvfng~lndljpald
4n oeoupatlon tax for the privilegeof eoaduatlngthat bumlwea,
vo are of the oplnloa and hold that ho does not w roeh selling
of tide-la merehend¶.re aubjeathtiaelt to She &da mtcn tax.
la n#Qhlag this 801L81?l8iCNL,
Ye are Rot Iuwadfu of
tho deofr;tonla tho c88e of Stendaml 011 co. of mxaa V8. state,
142 8. W. 519, ln whluh writ of erxor wea refumd, whme2.nthe
aouzt tild thst even thoughdefendantwas engaged,prSmarlly,
in storing,arlliagor distributing petroleumpmduota mad lr-
*Icingof motor vehialea,in order to oame tithln chs lx e m p tlc a
of Seistloa 5 it mat be sngag la wmh bualaeaa.
That cese, hovevec,pnamta a t fact altuatlon
from the matter here under dlaoua~ioa. Then, the sellerwas
qagpd la oae type of bualneaa obviouslyvlthln the o.mmptlonl
It was e&so engagedin anotherand entirelydifferent bus&moss
aot vlthln the exmptlon. Here ow mller la engagedin tbo
business of aelliagsppllaaceaurd pets obvlosalywItMa the
oxemptlonprovidedLn Article7060. Ia mak hla rralee
he
rametlmeatakes trade-lam6rcheadlae not with "x, the exemptloa.
He hea the privilegeof selling,for vhleh privilegehe ha paid.
It filloVathet he hre the prlvllegeto collectthe eel* prlee -
$0 map the benefitsOS hle aarlee.In order to do 80 he muat
oa?ert his trade-inmerchandiseinto o&ah. He cl&aonly do that
w eolliagthose trade-ina. He debitsin such merahandlae&y
gg m incldentto hle bualness. Ye thiak such sales me authi-
rlaed~
I@vlw thus Basweredfour first queatlon,it heoomer
unmmrreary to enswerpur ather queatlonr.
Yours very txulr