Buckeye Pipeline Co. v. Commonwealth

689 A.2d 366, 1997 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 74, 1997 WL 66092
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 19, 1997
Docket453 F.R. 1992
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 689 A.2d 366 (Buckeye Pipeline Co. v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buckeye Pipeline Co. v. Commonwealth, 689 A.2d 366, 1997 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 74, 1997 WL 66092 (Pa. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

FLAHERTY, Judge.

Buckeye Pipeline Company (Buckeye) petitions for review from an order of the Board of Finance and Revenue (Board) which refused to resettle Buckeye’s 1988 Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT).

The parties stipulated to the following facts. Buckeye is a Delaware Corporation which is qualified to do business in Pennsylvania. During the tax year in question, 1988, Buckeye owned a one-percent interest, as the general partner, in four limited partnerships. The sole business of these limited partnerships involved the transportation of petroleum products through 3,500 miles of pipeline situated in ten states, including Pennsylvania. None of these limited partnerships had employees; Buckeye provided complete operational management. Additionally, Buckeye provided complete operational management to Laurel Pipeline Company (Laurel), a pipeline corporation. Buckeye has written agreements with the four limited partnerships and Laurel regarding Buckeye’s total responsibility for operations and management.

[368]*368Buckeye is the successor to another corporation (Old Buckeye). Old Buckeye owned its own pipelines through which it transported petroleum products. Moreover, Old Buckeye provided management services as well as operated the pipelines of other companies. In 1986, these other companies were reorganized into the limited partnerships mentioned above, and the employees of Old Buckeye and another company were transferred to Buckeye.

Buckeye’s only function is the operation and management of the limited partnerships and Laurel. Pursuant to Section 401(3)2. of the Tax Reform Code of 1971 (Code),1 Buckeye is entitled to an apportionment because it has taxable business income in other states. Buckeye reported its 1988 CNIT as $12,675 using the single-factor method based on revenue barrel miles.2 The Commonwealth set-tied Buckeye’s CNIT at $28,013 based upon an apportionment percentage that was calculated by using the standard three-factor method of apportionment.3 Buckeye filed for a resettlement and the Board refused. This appeal followed.

The issue in this case of first impression is whether Buckeye is a “pipeline com-pan[y]” and, therefore, entitled to apportion its taxable income by use of the revenue barrel miles method pursuant to Section 401(3)2.(e)(l) of the Code. In appeals from the Board of Finance and Revenue, we have the broadest scope of review because the Commonwealth Court functions as a trial court even though such cases are heard in our appellate jurisdiction. Norris v. Commonwealth, 155 Pa.Cmwlth. 423, 625 A.2d 179, 182 (1993).

[369]*369Foreign corporations qualified to conduct business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are entitled to have their tax liability fairly apportioned in a manner that represents the commercial activity within the Commonwealth and does not burden interstate commerce. In Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 1076, 51 L.Ed.2d 326 (1977), the Supreme Court held that a state may tax a business association for the privilege of conducting business within its borders without running afoul of the United States Constitution if the tax complies with the following four factors: (1) the activity taxed has a substantial nexus to the taxing state; (2) the tax is fairly apportioned; (3) the tax does not discriminate against interstate commerce; and (4) it is fairly related to the services provided by the state. Id. at 279, 97 S.Ct. at 1079.

Section 401(3)2. of the Code provides that “[i]n case the entire business of any corporation ... is not transacted within this Commonwealth,” 72 P.S. § 7401(3)2., the general rule is that the corporation shall apportion the amount of income generated by transactions within the Commonwealth and calculate its tax liability by multiplying the corporation’s total net income by an apportionment percentage which is the average of three statutory fractions (three-factor method). 72 P.S. § 7401(3)2.(a). These three fractions represent the ratio of business activity in Pennsylvania to the total business activity of a corporation for sales, property, and payroll. Id. Depending on the nature of a business, a corporation may qualify for one of three exceptions to the three-factor method. In the instant case, the relevant exception is represented by a single fraction and provides the following:

(c) Pipeline or Natural Gas Companies.
(1) All business income of pipeline companies shall be apportioned to this Commonwealth by multiplying the income by a fraction....

72 P.S. § 7401(3)2.(c)(l) (emphasis added).

Buckeye argues that it is a pipeline company and should have its apportioned Pennsylvania CNIT calculated according to the revenue barrel mile method provided in Section 401(3)2.(c)(l) of the Code instead of the three-factor method. Buckeye maintains that as the general partner in a limited partnership, it is fully responsible and liable for the pipeline operations. Buckeye’s employees are responsible for operating and maintaining all receiving and delivery terminals, pumping stations, and petroleum products. In return, the partnerships reimburse Buckeye for all costs and expenses associated with operating the pipelines in Pennsylvania and also pay a flat management fee to Buckeye pursuant to management agreements. Although the partnerships own almost all of the assets and pipelines, these management agreements grant Buckeye broad authority to do anything it deems appropriate and necessary for the operation and maintenance of the pipelines.

The Commonwealth maintains that, by Buckeye’s own admission, it is a management company authorized to maintain and operate the pipelines for a management fee, and Buckeye’s federal income tax return admits that Buckeye is a management company. The Commonwealth further argues that the term “pipeline compan[y]” requires ownership of the pipelines in order for a company’s income to be related to the amount of product transported through the pipeline, and therefore have its CNIT calculated by the single-factor method.

Depending on whether the product is a solid, liquid, or gas, the single factor used in determining CNIT will be determined by either revenue ton miles, revenue barrel miles, or revenue cubic foot miles respectively. Buckeye’s business involves the transportation of liquid petroleum products. Thus, Buckeye seeks to have its CNIT apportioned according to a factor determined by the revenue barrel miles method. The General Assembly has defined these terms in the following manner:

For purposes of this paragraph a revenue ton mile, revenue barrel mile or a revenue cubic foot mile shall mean respectively the receipts derived from the transportation by the taxpayer of one ton of solid property, one barrel of liquid property or one cubic foot of gaseous property transported one mile.

§ 7401(3)2.(e)(l). The Commonwealth argues that, in contrast to the above provision, [370]*370Buckeye does not earn revenues based on the amount of liquid petroleum that it transports through the partnerships’ pipelines.

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Bluebook (online)
689 A.2d 366, 1997 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 74, 1997 WL 66092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buckeye-pipeline-co-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1997.