Campbell Tractor & Implement, Inc. v. Nevada ex rel. Department of Taxation

570 F. Supp. 427, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14506
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedAugust 18, 1983
DocketNo. CV-R-83-84-ECR
StatusPublished

This text of 570 F. Supp. 427 (Campbell Tractor & Implement, Inc. v. Nevada ex rel. Department of Taxation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Campbell Tractor & Implement, Inc. v. Nevada ex rel. Department of Taxation, 570 F. Supp. 427, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14506 (D. Nev. 1983).

Opinion

ORDER

EDWARD C. REED, Jr., District Judge.

This matter is before the Court as the result of a motion to dismiss, filed by the defendant on April 7, 1983.

Plaintiff in this action is a “John Deere” farm equipment dealer located in Nampa, Idaho. Plaintiff is a licensed Idaho corporation. Defendant is attempting to impose sales tax liability on plaintiff for sales made through the years of 1972 to 1981 to persons who indicated at the time they made their purchases that they were residents of Nevada. Plaintiff contends that it is not subject to any such tax liability and has brought this action seeking declaratory relief to establish that contention.

Defendant bases its motion to dismiss on two grounds; first, that 28 U.S.C. § 1341 deprives this Court of jurisdiction to hear this case due to the fact that plaintiff has available to him a plain, speedy and efficient remedy in state court, and second, that this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case pursuant to the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Court will address itself to the latter premise of defendant first.

The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that:

“The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.”

NRS 41.031(3) states:

“The State of Nevada does not waive its immunity from suit conferred by Amendment XI of the Constitution of the United States.”

In Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U.S. 781, 98 S.Ct. 3057, 57 L.Ed.2d 1114 (1978) (per curiam) the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether or not a mandatory injunction against the State of Alabama and the Alabama Board of Corrections was unconstitutional in light of the Eleventh Amendment. The Court held that there was no doubt that a suit seeking such an injunction was barred by the Eleventh Amendment unless the State of Alabama had consented to the filing of the suit. 438 U.S. at 782, 98 S.Ct. at 3057-3058.

Alabama v. Pugh was cited in a recent Ninth Circuit case which dealt with a situation similar to the one in the case at bar. That case is V.O. Motors v. California St. Bd. of Equalization, 691 F.2d 871 (1982). V.O. had filed a complaint against the [429]*429Board and had alleged that the assessment of use taxes upon automobiles which it had leased to the federal government was arbitrary and discriminatory, violated the intergovernmental immunity of the federal government and was the result of an erroneous construction of the Tax Code. V.O. also alleged that it was without a plain, speedy and efficient state court remedy because of its lack of sufficient assets to pay the tax under protest and sue for refund. V.O. requested that the district court grant it declaratory and injunctive relief against the assessment of approximately $380,000 in taxes alleged to be owing. The Board moved to dismiss V.O.’s complaint, contending that the action was barred by the Eleventh Amendment and was also barred by the Tax Anti-Injunction Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1341. The Board also based its motion on the premise that V.O. had failed to exhaust its state administrative remedies. The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the action, citing Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979) for the principle that state immunity will be considered abrogated only when the statute in question or its legislative history clearly indicates a Congressional intention to abrogate that immunity. 691 F.2d at 872. The Court of Appeals then went on to find that § 1341 contains no explicit and clear language indicating that Congress intended to sweep away Eleventh Amendment immunity-

28 U.S.C. § 1341 provides:

“The-district courts shall not enjoin, suspend or restrain the assessment, levy or collection of any tax under State law where a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in the courts of such State.”

The Ninth Circuit in V.O. writes in this respect:

“Moreover, cases involving actions for injunctive relief against tax assessments decided after the enactment of section 1341 have been premised on the assumption that the Eleventh Amendment applies in full force to these cases. See Kennecott Copper Corp. v. State Tax Commission, 327 U.S. 573, 66 S.Ct. 745, 90 L.Ed. 862 (1946); Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury, 323 U.S. 459, 65 S.Ct. 347, 89 L.Ed. 389 (1945).
“... There is no explicit indication on the face of section 1341 that Eleventh Amendment immunity was intended to be abrogated, and V.O. cites no explicit indications in the legislative history.... “Thus, the District Court’s dismissal of this action for want of jurisdiction can be upheld on the basis that suit is barred by the Eleventh Amendment.” 691 F.2d at 873.

So too, the plaintiff in the case at bar has cited no compelling authority to dispel the proposition that the Eleventh Amendment does not pose an absolute bar to its action.

At the August 15, 1983, hearing before this Court plaintiff argued that the Eleventh Amendment does not apply to prospective relief such as a suit for declaratory judgment. Plaintiff’s contention is not in accordance with the applicable authority. The Eleventh Amendment is a bar to a suit against a state absent that state’s consent, irrespective of the nature of the relief sought. N.A.A.C.P. v. State of California, 511 F.Supp. 1244 (E.D.Cal.1981); also see Whitner v. Davis, 410 F.2d 24 (9th Cir.1969); Jacobson v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 566 F.2d 1353 (9th Cir.1977), aff’d in part, rev’d in part sub nom. Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Plan., 440 U.S. 391, 99 S.Ct. 1171, 59 L.Ed.2d 401 (1979) .

The Ninth Circuit has also held that 28 U.S.C. § 1341 applies to actions for declaratory relief. That Court reaffirmed its position regarding declaratory relief in Dillon v. State of Montana, 634 F.2d 463 (1980) . The Court wrote:

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Related

Ford Motor Co. v. Department of Treasury
323 U.S. 459 (Supreme Court, 1945)
Kennecott Copper Corp. v. State Tax Commission
327 U.S. 573 (Supreme Court, 1946)
Tully v. Griffin, Inc.
429 U.S. 68 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Alabama v. Pugh
438 U.S. 781 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Quern v. Jordan
440 U.S. 332 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Rosewell v. LaSalle National Bank
450 U.S. 503 (Supreme Court, 1981)
City Of Burbank v. The State Of Nevada
658 F.2d 708 (Ninth Circuit, 1981)
Whitner v. Davis
410 F.2d 24 (Ninth Circuit, 1969)
Jacobson v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
566 F.2d 1353 (Ninth Circuit, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
570 F. Supp. 427, 1983 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/campbell-tractor-implement-inc-v-nevada-ex-rel-department-of-taxation-nvd-1983.