Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of Louisville v. Estate of Doyle

573 S.W.2d 932, 1978 Ky. App. LEXIS 615
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedNovember 10, 1978
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 573 S.W.2d 932 (Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of Louisville v. Estate of Doyle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of Louisville v. Estate of Doyle, 573 S.W.2d 932, 1978 Ky. App. LEXIS 615 (Ky. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

HOWERTON, Judge.

This appeal results from litigation commenced in 1967 when appellants, the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of Louisville (hereinafter referred to as the “Fund”), brought suit against Joe S. Doyle to collect occupational taxes allegedly owing on income he earned by renting real [934]*934property. Shortly after that suit was filed, various other individuals, partnerships, and corporations intervened in the action in order to challenge the Fund’s authority to collect occupational taxes on income from rental property. The intervenors sought a refund of occupational taxes levied and previously paid on net rental income and gain on the sale of real estate held for investment purposes, alleging it was unconstitutional for the Fund to attempt to collect the tax.

A partial summary judgment dismissing the intervenor’s claim for a refund was entered on May 7,1976. A separate appeal was prosecuted from that judgment, but the Supreme Court ordered it stayed pending the outcome of the other issues in the case.

The facts were stipulated by agreement of the parties, and the case was submitted to the trial court for a decision on the briefs. An opinion was rendered on August 11, 1976, in which the trial court held that “any attempt by the sinking fund to enforce payment of the occupational tax by individuals who hold rental property for the purpose of income is a violation of section 181 of the Constitution of Kentucky.” (Emphasis supplied.) As to individuals, the Court also invalidated an administrative rule that exempted anyone from the license tax who devoted less than 30% of his time to the management or operation of the rental property. The trial court upheld the right of the Fund to collect the license tax from any corporation or partnership which stated that it was in the business of holding real estate for rental income or investment purposes.

The Fund contends that the trial court’s judgment is erroneous in three respects. First, the Fund argues that individual income derived from the rental of real property is subject to the occupational license tax because it is from a business activity. Next, the Fund asserts the validity of its regulation which exempts from the tax individuals who devote less than 30% of their time to activities related to rental income and contends that the trial court erred in voiding it. Finally, the Fund alleges it was improper to award costs to the appellees who were denied a refund of license taxes previously paid on rental income.

The cross-appellants object to that portion of the judgment which sanctions the imposition of occupational taxes upon net rental income and gain realized on the sale of real estate owned by partnerships and corporations and held for investment purposes. They reason that rental income from real estate held for investment purposes is investment income not subject to occupational taxes regardless of whether the owner is an individual or a partnership or a corporation. They also contend that partnerships and corporations should pay no tax on income from any real property rentals, because the imposition of this tax on them, while exempting individuals, is discriminatory and in violation of sections 171 and 174 of the Kentucky Constitution. The cross-appellants also argue that in the enabling legislation for the occupational tax, the General Assembly specifically provided that the licenses would be issued and enforced on terms and conditions prescribed “by ordinance; ” and, therefore, the Board of Aldermen exceeded its authority in delegating the power to issue rules and regulations to the Fund. They raise a similar argument with respect to the fiscal court’s authority to designate someone other than the sheriff of Jefferson County to collect the occupational taxes levied pursuant to KRS 68.180. The Fund is the collector for the occupational licenses of both the City of Louisville and Jefferson County. Finally, the cross-appellants object to the Fund’s regulation which requires all business entities to report all items subject to the federal income tax but which are exempt from the occupational tax. They contend that this requirement is offensive to the constitutional right to be free from governmental intrusion into one’s privacy.

The authority of local government to levy occupational taxes on businesses, trades, oc[935]*935cupations and professions can no longer be disputed. City of Louisville v. Sebree, 308 Ky. 420, 214 S.W.2d 248 (1948). The principal question is whether the holding of rental property for income is a business or merely an investment. If it is a business, then it necessarily follows that it will be subject to the tax. Our analysis of the activities involved in renting real property leads us to conclude that such activities may indeed be considered a business venture in most cases, but not necessarily in all.

An individual may be engaged in the “business” of renting real property just as a partnership or corporation may be in such a business. Partnerships and corporations are uniquely “business” organizations, however, and they may be presumed to be in some business. If their primary business is real estate rental, the license will be for that activity, but the fee will be based on the total net income. If the partnership or corporation is primarily in another type business, it must obtain a license for that activity, but base the fee on all income including rents or gains it realizes from real estate. A proprietorship may also have to include such income if it includes the rental income as part of the business activity. Otherwise, a license tax for an individual receiving income from rents or taxable gains on real estate will depend on whether or not it can be determined that the individual is in “business.” The regulation specifically exempts individuals renting no more than two rooms, and the regulation does not presume that an individual is in “business” unless 30% of his time is devoted to the rental activity.

An individual may be involved in rental activity in such an insignificant way that it would be neither proper nor administratively feasible to subject such an individual to an occupational tax. For that reason, we believe that the Fund’s regulation exempting individuals devoting less than 30% of their time to renting real property could be justified on the basis of administrative considerations alone. The court in Sebree, supra, cited the following quotation from Carmichael v. Southern Coal and Coke Co., 301 U.S. 495, 57 S.Ct. 868, 81 L.Ed. 1245, 109 A.L.R. 1327 (1937):

Administrative convenience and expense in the collection or measurement of the tax are alone a sufficient justification for the difference between the treatment of small incomes or small taxpayers and that meted out to others.

We can appreciate the dilemma of the trial judge when he considered the 30% requirement. Thirty percent (30%) of what time? The intervenors complained that the regulation was vague in that sense, but their actual objection was that it was discriminatory because it only applied to individuals and not to the partnerships and corporations.

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573 S.W.2d 932, 1978 Ky. App. LEXIS 615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commissioners-of-the-sinking-fund-of-the-city-of-louisville-v-estate-of-kyctapp-1978.