Aluminum Co. of America v. Evatt

45 N.E.2d 118, 140 Ohio St. 385, 140 Ohio St. (N.S.) 385, 24 Ohio Op. 405, 1942 Ohio LEXIS 466
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1942
Docket29053
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 45 N.E.2d 118 (Aluminum Co. of America v. Evatt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aluminum Co. of America v. Evatt, 45 N.E.2d 118, 140 Ohio St. 385, 140 Ohio St. (N.S.) 385, 24 Ohio Op. 405, 1942 Ohio LEXIS 466 (Ohio 1942).

Opinion

*392 Turner, J.

The question here presented is whether the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals sustaining the determination of the Tax Commissioner is reasonable and lawful. (Section 5611-2, General Code.)

Under Section 5495, General Code, the franchise or excise tax authorized by Section 5499, General Code, and determined according to Section 5498, General Code, is levied upon foreign corporations “for the privilege of doing business in this state or owning or using a part or all of its capital or property in this state or for holding a certificate of compliance with the laws of this state authorizing it to do business in this state, during the calendar year in which such fee is payable. ’ ’

Such a tax has been held constitutional. Southern Gum Co. v. Laylin, Secy. of State, 66 Ohio St., 578, 64 N. E., 564.

Appellant does not challenge the state’s right to levy the tax, but does challenge the inclusion of the value of certain parts of its “business done in Ohio” in arriving at the numerator of the fraction whose denominator is the total value of appellant’s business wherever transacted.

Section 5498, General Code, provides, in part:

“After the filing of the annual corporation report the Tax Commission [Tax Commissioner] if it shall find such report to be correct, shall on or before the first Monday in May determine the vahte of the issued and outstanding shares of stock of every corporation reqitired to file sitch report. * * * The commission [commissioner] shall then determine as follows the base upon tvhich the fee provided for in Section 5499 of the General Code shall be computed. Divide into two equal parts the value as above determined of the issued and outstanding shares of stock of each corporation filing such report. Take one part and multiply by a fraction whose numerator is the fair value of *393 .all the corporation’s property owned or used by it in Ohio and whose denominator is the fair value of all its property wheresoever situated in each case eliminating any item of good will; take the other part and multiply by a fraction whose numerator is the value ■of the business done by the corporation in this state •during the year preceding the date of the commence- . ment of its current annual accounting period and whose ■denominator is the total value of its- business during .said year wherever transacted. * * *

“On the first Monday in June the Tax Commission [Tax Commissioner] shall certify to the Auditor of State the amount determined by it through adding the two figures thus obtained for each corporation.” (Italics ours.)

Tax Commissioner’s Rule No. 275,.adopted pursuant to Sections 1464-3(13) and 1464-4, General Code, so far as pertinent, provides:

“ Business done in and out of Ohio by a corporation subject to the payment of franchise taxes shall be determined under Section 5498, General Code, by allocating to the business fraction therein provided sales in and out of Ohio. * * *

“In the case of manufacturing companies, all sales ■of goods manufactured in Ohio, wherever sold, shall be considered as Ohio sales, except sales of such products as are sold from warehouses outside of this state.

‘£ The denominator of such business fraction shall in all cases be the total sales wherever made.”

It is to be observed that the foregoing rule is more liberal to the taxpayer than the provisions of Section •5498, supra, in that there is eliminated from the base of “business done by the corporation in this state” the value of all goods manufactured in Ohio but shipped to and sold from a warehouse outside of this state. 'Even if it were to be said that in substance the formula *394 prescribed by Section 5498, General Code, does tax sales and not tbe privileges set forth in Section 5495, General Code, this rule removes all possibility of double taxation as sales from a warehouse in another state would probably constitute doing business in that state. Furthermore, this rule permits the value of all sales made from warehouses outside of the state of goods manufactured in Ohio to be added to the denominator of the business fraction.

To avoid confusion, it must be kept crystal clear that the only purpose of the formula provided by Section 5498, supra, and supplemented by Rule No. 275, supra, is to determine by uniform rules and as nearly as may be the value of the use of the corporate franchise in this state. The employment of various factors in determining the part of the business of a corporation (whether domestic or foreign) done in Ohio is no indication that the subjects of such factors are being taxed. Instead, they are being used merely to compose a measuring stick. Commerce, both intrastate and interstate, is not regulated, forbidden or burdened. The record discloses no indication of double taxation.

The state of Ohio does not levy any tax on or with respect to corporate income, or receipts or sales made inside or outside of Ohio of goods sold and shipped in intrastate or interstate commerce. This should be clear from the language of Section 5495, General Code, which provides:

“The tax provided by this act for domestic corporations shall be the fee charged against each corporation organized for profit under the laws of this state, except as provided herein, for the privilege of exercising its franchise during the calendar year in which such fee is payable and the tax provided by this act for foreign corporations shall be the fee charged against each corporation organised for profit under the laws of any *395 state or country other than Ohio, except as provided herein, for the privilege of doing business in this state or owning or using a part or all of its capital or property in this state or for holding a certificate of compliance with the laws of this state authorizing it to do business in this state, during the calendar year in ivhich such fee is payable.” (Italics ours.)

Tlie same formula is used for both domestic and foreign corporations. The application of the formula for a domestic (but non-manufacturing) corporation is illustrated in the case of Cliffs Corp. v. Evatt, Tax Commr., 138 Ohio St., 336, 345 et seq., 35 N. E. (2d), 144.

Appellant owns reducing and manufacturing plants located in various places outside of Ohio, where its product is mined, reduced, refined and alloyed, and the material received at the Ohio plant has been partially fabricated at appellant’s plants outside of the state. In other words, appellant has what is known as a vertical organization, that is, it is a concern engaged in different stages of manufacture or distribution of its product in its conversion from raw to finished material.

While appellant discusses the meaning of “business done” in its reply brief, it is said:

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Bluebook (online)
45 N.E.2d 118, 140 Ohio St. 385, 140 Ohio St. (N.S.) 385, 24 Ohio Op. 405, 1942 Ohio LEXIS 466, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aluminum-co-of-america-v-evatt-ohio-1942.