Alabama Department of Revenue v. National Peanut Festival Ass'n

51 So. 3d 353, 2010 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 141, 2010 WL 2173004
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 28, 2010
Docket2080986
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 51 So. 3d 353 (Alabama Department of Revenue v. National Peanut Festival Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alabama Department of Revenue v. National Peanut Festival Ass'n, 51 So. 3d 353, 2010 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 141, 2010 WL 2173004 (Ala. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

MOORE, Judge.

This is the second time these parties have been before this court regarding the proper amount of amusement taxes due from The National Peanut Festival Association, Inc. (“the taxpayer”), for the tax years 2004 and 2005. See Alabama Dep’t of Revenue v. National Peanut Festival Ass’n, Inc., 11 So.3d 821 (Ala.Civ.App.2008) (“Peanut Festival”). In the first appeal, this court reversed a judgment entered by the Houston Circuit Court (“the trial court”) exempting the taxpayer from any taxation on receipts generated from the National Peanut Festival (“the Festival”) for the tax years 2004 and 2005. This court determined that § 40-9-1(12), Ala.Code 1975, grants the taxpayer a general exemption from taxation on the revenue generated from the Festival but that, as an “exception” to that exemption, 11 So.3d at 828, § 40-9-1(12) allows the Alabama Department of Revenue (“the Department”) to assess an amusement tax of 4% against the gross receipts generated by the taxpayer from conducting or operating “nonagricultural shows and exhibits” at the Festival. 11 So.3d at 828. This court remanded the case to the trial court “for a determination of the tax due from the taxpayer for the sale of tickets to the [‘Miss Peanut’ and ‘Little Miss Peanut’ pageants] and the concerts [conducted at the Festival] and for a determination of the amount of the refund, if any, due the taxpayer.” 11 So.3d at 834.

On remand, the trial court took additional evidence and entered a judgment finding that the taxpayer owed $7,449.77 in amusement taxes for the years 2004 and 2005. The trial court found that the Department had assessed $65,494.29 in amusement taxes against the taxpayer for the relevant tax years; thus, the trial court ordered the Department to refund $58,044.52 to the taxpayer. The Department filed a timely appeal from that judgment. This court conducted oral argument on March 23, 2010.

On appeal, the Department initially argues that the trial court erred in taxing only the receipts generated from the Festival pageants and concerts and in not taxing receipts generated from other activities and events held at the Festival. We disagree.

“ ‘The issues decided by an appellate court become the law of the case on remand to the trial court, and the trial court is not free to reconsider those issues.’ Ex parte S.T.S., 806 So.2d 336, 341 (Ala.2001) (citing Murphree v. Murphree, 600 So.2d 301 (Ala.Civ.App.1992)). Moreover, on remand, ‘ “the trial court’s duty is to comply with the appellate mandate ‘according to its true intent and meaning, as determined by the directions given by the reviewing court.’ ” ’ Ex parte Jones, 774 So.2d 607, 608 (Ala.Civ.App.2000) (quoting Walker v. Carolina Mills Lumber Co., 441 So.2d 980, 982 (Ala.Civ.App.1983), quoting in turn Ex parte Alabama Power Co., 431 So.2d 151, 155 (Ala.1983)).”

Brown v. Brown, 20 So.3d 139, 141 (Ala.Civ.App.2009).

[356]*356In Peanut Festival, this court decided that § 40-9-1(12) prohibits the state from taxing any revenues generated from a state fair except revenue “from nonagricul-tural shows and exhibits conducted by the taxpayer at the event.” 11 So.3d at 828. In using the term “nonagricultural shows and exhibits,” this court was referring to “shows, displays or exhibits other than shows, displays or exhibits of agricultural implements, farm products, livestock and athletic prowess,” as set out in the last sentence of § 40-9-1(12). 11 So.3d at 827-28. In applying our construction of § 40-9-1(12) to the facts as established in the record, this court held that the Festival is a “state fair,” 11 So.3d at 831-32, and that the pageants and musical concerts held in conjunction with the Festival constituted “nonagricultural shows and exhibits.” 11 So.3d at 832. This court then stated:

“In this case, the record is not clear as to what part of the receipts related solely to the sale of admission tickets to the concerts and the ... pageants. In the case of the ... pageants, some tickets were sold separately to those events, but some tickets also were sold as part of the ‘patron’s package.’ As for the concerts, the record suggests that the price for access to the concerts is factored into the overall price of the admission tickets. Therefore, we cannot determine from the record the appropriate amount of taxes the taxpayer was obligated to collect and remit. We, therefore, remand the case to the trial court for it to conduct further proceedings on that point.”

11 So.3d at 834. Thus, this court instructed the trial court to determine on remand the tax due on only the receipts generated from the sale of admission tickets to the pageants and the concerts. This court did not order the trial court to ascertain if any other events conducted at the Festival could be subject to taxation under § 40-9-1(12).

In rendering the decision in Peanut Festival, this court was aware of all the activities and events conducted at the Festival. The record in Peanut Festival contained exhibits identifying all “special events” held at the Festival during 2004 and 2005. In addition, in her testimony, Pat Holland, the president of the taxpayer in 2007, described some of those events, including the midway, livestock exhibits, agricultural-equipment exhibits, a “Farmer for a Day” exhibit for children, recipe contests, and a “Doo-Da” parade for children. However, this court determined that only the pageants and the concerts could be considered “nonagricultural shows and exhibits” subject to taxation.1 The Department did not apply for rehearing or otherwise contest our determination; thus, that conclusion became the law of the case, and, on remand, the trial court was not free to reconsider that issue and decide for itself whether any other activities held at the Festival fell outside the scope of the limited exemption created by § 40-9-1(12).

“[Wjhatever is once established between the same parties in the same case continues to be the law of that case, whether or not correct on general principles, so long as the facts on which the decision was predicated continue to be the facts of the case.” Blumberg v. Touche Ross & Co., 514 So.2d 922, 924 (Ala.1987). On remand, the Department did not attempt to introduce evidence as to receipts generated from other activities and events conducted at the Festival in 2004 and 2005 of which [357]*357this court and the trial court were unaware. Instead, the Department attempted to have the trial court reclassify as nonexempt only the revenue generated from events and activities that this court had already determined fell within the § 40-9-1(12) exemption. The trial court correctly rejected the Department’s efforts in that regard and, therefore, did not commit any error in calculating the tax and refund due by referring to the receipts generated from only the pageants and the concerts.2

The Department next contends that the taxpayer failed to meet its burden of proving that portion of the gate admission receipts that was exempt from the amusement tax.3 In the initial appeal, this court did not decide which party bore the burden of proof on that point. The Department’s argument assumes that the taxpayer bore that burden because the taxpayer generally bears the burden of proving the incorrectness of a tax assessment on appeal. See Ala.Code 1975, § 40-2A-7(b)(5)(c). However, the taxpayer has already proven the incorrectness of the tax assessment.

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51 So. 3d 353, 2010 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 141, 2010 WL 2173004, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alabama-department-of-revenue-v-national-peanut-festival-assn-alacivapp-2010.