Chrome Deposit Corp. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue

557 N.E.2d 1110, 1990 Ind. Tax LEXIS 6, 1990 WL 89053
CourtIndiana Tax Court
DecidedJune 26, 1990
Docket49T05-8908-TA-00033, 49T05-8908-TA-00034
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 557 N.E.2d 1110 (Chrome Deposit Corp. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chrome Deposit Corp. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 557 N.E.2d 1110, 1990 Ind. Tax LEXIS 6, 1990 WL 89053 (Ind. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

FISHER, Judge.

Chrome Deposit Corporation, an Indiana corporation, has filed its motion for summary judgment seeking a refund of corporation gross income taxes for the years 1982 and 1983, and sales and use taxes for *1111 the years 1982, 1983, and 1984, which were paid to the Indiana Department of State Revenue. The Department does not dispute the lack of any genuine issue of material fact, but only disputes Chrome Deposit’s conclusions.

Facts

During the years in issue, Chrome Deposit was in the business of manufacturing a layered hard chromium metal that ranged in thickness from three ten-thousandths to ten ten-thousandths of an inch. The metal was applied to the surface of work rolls, which were large, heavy, iron rolls. These work rolls were used by steel and aluminum mills in rolling out sheets of steel and aluminum. Different types of work rolls controlled the type and thickness of steel or aluminum produced.

Chrome Deposit’s basic function was to apply chromium metal to a work roll when the roll arrived at Chrome Deposit’s facilities. The work roll was put into a tank and sprayed with steam to raise the temperature of the solid iron to a specified level, and this specified temperature was maintained constantly throughout the process. Next, the work roll was placed into a “scrub tank” and physically scrubbed with sponges, water, and a special cleansing material that removed surface impurities. The work roll was then lowered into a third tank where it was rinsed with clear water. After rinsing, the work roll was placed in a holding tank where it was cleaned, dried and maintained at a constant temperature until the hard chromium metal was applied.

The hard chromium metal was manufactured through the interaction of electricity with a chromic bath solution consisting of water, chrome, and various chemicals. A current was passed through copper bars and over to a tank that held the chromic bath solution. The work roll was lowered by a crane into the chromic bath solution where an electrical current was supplied by a connection made through copper connectors and a copper clamp assembly that held the work roll in the solution. The result was an extremely hard chromium metal that bonded to the work roll surface.

Upon use by Chrome Deposit’s customers, the chromium metal lasts only about two to four hours in the rolling process because of the extreme heat and pressure that is used to press out the sheet steel and aluminum. The chromium metal is used continuously throughout the customer’s rolling operation. A new hard chromium metal layer is required to be produced for each work roll used by Chrome Deposit’s customers. Additional facts will be provided as necessary throughout the opinion.

Discussion and Decision

Chrome Deposit contends that it is not providing repair or maintenance upon the work rolls by applying the chromium metal. Chrome Deposit maintains that it bonds a separate and identifiable product to work rolls that is used in the sheet steel and aluminum manufacturing process. Chrome Deposit states that the work rolls are functional in the mills without the chromium metal, but the efficiency of the sheet rolling process is greatly improved if the work rolls are utilized in conjunction with the chromium metal.

A. Gross Income Tax

Chrome Deposit contests the Department’s assessment of gross income tax on the following bases:

1. Chrome Deposit is engaged in wholesale sales under IC 6~2.1-2-l(c)(l)(B). Chrome Deposit sells tangible personal property—hard chromium metal—that is directly consumed in direct production by a purchaser in the business of producing sheet steel and aluminum by manufacturing, refining, and processing.
2. Alternatively, Chrome Deposit makes “wholesale sales” as defined by IC 6-2.1-2-1 (c)(1)(D). In the event the Court finds that Chrome Deposit is not in the business of selling tangible personal property, it is certainly engaged in industrial processing or servicing as defined by that statute.

The Department contends that Chrome Deposit is subject to the higher income tax rate applicable to revenues gen *1112 erated by service activities as set forth in IC 6-2.1-2-3(b) and IC 6-21-2-5(9). The key issue is whether Chrome Deposit is engaged in wholesale sales or whether it provides a service. To authorize a collection of gross income tax, a transaction must come clearly within the relevant statutory provisions. In case of doubt, the statute will be construed against the state and in favor of the taxpayer. This rule applies even when the question presented is the correct rate of tax. Indiana Dep’t of State Revenue v. Klink (1953), 232 Ind. 473, 112 N.E.2d 581.

Under IC 6-2.1-2-l(c)(l)(B), “wholesale sales” includes:

(B) Sales of tangible personal property which is to be directly consumed in direct production by a purchaser in the business of producing tangible personal property by manufacturing, processing, refining, repairing, mining, agriculture, or horticulture.

Thus, there are three elements of “wholesale sales” under this definition: (1) the taxpayer must sell tangible personal property; (2) the purchaser must directly consume the property in direct production; and, (3) the purchaser must be engaged in the business of producing tangible personal property by manufacturing, processing, or refining. Chrome Deposit asserts that it sells tangible personal property; that its customers directly consume the property in direct production; and that its customers are engaged in the business of producing tangible personal property by manufacturing, processing, or refining. Chrome Deposit’s customers are mills, engaged in the manufacture of sheet steel and aluminum.

Chrome Deposit’s first contention is that it sells tangible personal property in the form of its hard chromium metal. Therefore, Chrome Deposit concludes that the business activity from which it receives its income is the sale of the hard chromium metal for consumption in the sheet steel and aluminum producing process. According to Chrome Deposit, the application of the chromium to the work rolls is merely incidental to the actual sale. Chrome Deposit notes that the work rolls that come to it are not broken or in need of repair. Therefore, Chrome Deposit contends that it does not service or repair the work rolls.

Chrome Deposit draws an analogy between its situation and the taxpayer’s situation in Indiana Department of State Revenue v. Klink, 232 Ind. 473, 112 N.E.2d 581. In Klink, the taxpayer was engaged in selling soil limestone and marl to farmers. The taxpayer delivered the lime spread on the farmers’ fields for no additional charge. The soil lime was sold for agricultural and horticultural use. The court found that “[t]he material sold was consumed in the direct production of tangible personal property by agriculture and horticulture.” Id. at 475, 112 N.E.2d at 581.

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Bluebook (online)
557 N.E.2d 1110, 1990 Ind. Tax LEXIS 6, 1990 WL 89053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chrome-deposit-corp-v-indiana-department-of-state-revenue-indtc-1990.