Budget Builders, Inc. v. State Tax Commission

229 P.2d 305, 119 Utah 484, 1951 Utah LEXIS 146
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 26, 1951
DocketNo. 7607
StatusPublished

This text of 229 P.2d 305 (Budget Builders, Inc. v. State Tax Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Budget Builders, Inc. v. State Tax Commission, 229 P.2d 305, 119 Utah 484, 1951 Utah LEXIS 146 (Utah 1951).

Opinion

ELLETT, District Judge.

The main question involved in this appeal is whether a dissolving corporation can have its tax liability determined in the district court when the State Tax Commission refuses to give it a tax clearance.

The appellant, Budget Builders, Inc., a corporation, hereafter referred to as the Corporation, duly filed in the district court its petition for dissolution. The State Tax Commission, hereafter designated as the Commission, would not give a tax clearance, and on September 15, 1950, by amended petition, the Corporation set forth among other things that it had filed franchise tax (income tax) returns for the two years of its existence; that a loss was sustained during each year; and that it had paid a tax of 1/20 of one per cent of the fair value of its tangible prop[486]*486erty; that all taxes, penalties, interests, and costs against the Corporation had been paid, and particularly all corporate franchise taxes (income taxes) for the years 1948 and 1949 had been paid; that after the dissolution proceedings were commenced and notwithstanding that all corporate franchise taxes were satisfied and discharged, the Commission nevertheless refused to give a tax clearance until the Corporation would pay a deficiency tax of $1,454.28 for the year 1948 and $1,538.04 for the year 1949; that the deficiency claimed by the Commission was calculated upon a profit made by the individual stockholders and not upon a profit made by the Corporation; that notice of the claimed deficiency was mailed to the Corporation on August 25, 1950, less than one month prior to the date of the amended petition.

The Corporation prayed for a determination of its tax liability by the court. The Commission moved to dismiss the amended petition on the following grounds:

1. The amended petition shows the court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter.

2. The court lacks power to review the actions of the Tax Commission and to redetermine the franchise tax of the corporation for 1948 and 1949.

3. The petition fails to state facts on which the relief prayed for can be granted.

The court below granted the motion of the Commission and dismissed the amended petition and the order to show cause issued pursuant thereto.

The new Rules of Civil Procedure in Utah, Rule 7, abolished demurrers, pleas, and exceptions for insufficiency, and substituted therefor motions to dismiss. A demurrer always admitted as true all material allegations well pleaded. Thomas v. Blythe, 44 Utah 1, 137 P. 396; State [487]*487ex rel. State Tax Comm. v. Evans, 79 Utah 370, 6 P.2d 161, 84 A. L. R. 766; Kramer v. Pixton, 72 Utah 1, 268 P. 1028; Higgins v. Glenn, 65 Utah 406, 237 P. 513.

Our new rules were taken from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U. S. C. A., and under the Federal rules it has been held that a motion to dismiss admits the material allegations of a pleading. Porter v. Karavis, 10 Cir., 157 F. 2d 984. Hence the Commission admitted that it had refused to grant a tax clearance to the Corporation when it moved to dismiss the petition and order to show cause.

Prior to 1945 the law prevented the dissolution of a corporation until a certificate from the State Tax Commission was furnished to the court.

. Section 104 — 62—6, U. C. A. 1943, then provided as follows:

“After the time for publication has expired, the court may, upon five days' notice to the persons who have filed objections, or without further notice, if no objections have been filed, proceed to hear and determine the application; and, if all statements therein made are shown to be true, must declare the corporation dissolved. However, in no instance shall the court declare the corporation dissolved until proof, in the form of a certificate from the state tax commission, has been filed by the corporation applying for dissolution that all fees, taxes, penalties, interest and costs due the state have been satisfied and discharged.”

The legislature amended the above section in 1945 to read:

“After the time for publication has expired, the court may, upon five days’ notice to the persons who have filed objections, or without further notice, if no objections have been filed, proceed to hear and determine the application; in case objections are filed protesting the dissolution of the corporation, the court shall hear the said objections; and if said court determines that the objections are well taken, then, in the event that the objections represent a cause of action against the oerporation, suit shall be brought against the corporation within thirty days from the date the court has issued its findings respecting such objections, or otherwise the objections shall be no bar to the dissolution of said corporation. Upon the proper disposition of the objections raised, or if all statements made in the [488]*488application for dissolution are shown to be true, the court must declare the corporation dissolved. However, in no instance shall the court declare the corporation dissolved until proof, in the form of a certificate from the state tax commission, has been filed by the corporation applying for dissolution that all fees, taxes, penalties, interest and costs due the state have been satisfied and discharged. If the said state tax commission refuses or fails to give such tax clearance within ninety days from the request therefor by the dissolving corporation and from the date of filing of a verified copy of the resolution hereinafter referred to, the court may, upon request from the corporation or upon its own motion, require the tax commission to appear in the proceeding and show cause at a time appointed by the court, why the corporation should not be allowed to be dissolved. The court shall thereupon determine the tax liability of the corporation, and upon payment of any sums found by the court to be due to the tax commission, the court shall order the corporation dissolved. The tax liability of the corporation shall be determined as of the date the corporation formally resolved in a proper resolution to quit doing business as a corporation, provided, however, that if a corporation does business other than in the normal course of liquidation, and winding-up its affairs, after the date determined in said resolution, the tax liability of said corporation shall be fixed as of the date the corporation actually ceased doing business. The corporation shall furnish to the secretary of state and to the state tax commission a verified copy of the resolution showing the date when the corporation resolved to cease doing business.”

It was pursuant to the amendment that an order to show cause was requested by the Corporation.

The Commission argues that under Sec. 80 — 13—48, U. C. A. 1943, a district court has no jurisdiction to hear and determine tax liability. That section reads :

“No court of this state, except the supreme court, shall have jurisdiction to review, reverse or annul any decision of the tax commission, or to suspend or delay the operation or execution thereof.”

We are unable to see any conflict between the sections above quoted.

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Related

Porter v. Karavas
157 F.2d 984 (Tenth Circuit, 1946)
Higgins v. Glenn
237 P. 513 (Utah Supreme Court, 1925)
State Tax Comm. v. Evans, Co. Treas. of Weber Co.
6 P.2d 161 (Utah Supreme Court, 1931)
Kramer v. Pixton, State Bank Examiner
268 P. 1029 (Utah Supreme Court, 1928)
Thomas v. Blythe
137 P. 396 (Utah Supreme Court, 1913)

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Bluebook (online)
229 P.2d 305, 119 Utah 484, 1951 Utah LEXIS 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/budget-builders-inc-v-state-tax-commission-utah-1951.