Commonwealth v. Twitchell

31 Pa. D. & C.2d 226, 1963 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 321
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedApril 22, 1963
DocketCommonwealth dkt. no. 208, 1961
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 31 Pa. D. & C.2d 226 (Commonwealth v. Twitchell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Twitchell, 31 Pa. D. & C.2d 226, 1963 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 321 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1963).

Opinion

Miller, J.,

This proceeding is an appeal by E. W. Twitchell, Inc. ( appellant, or Twitchell) from a decision of the Board of Finance and Revenue which sustained the action taken by the Department of Revenue and approved by the Department of the Auditor General, settling the franchise tax against appellant for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1959, by which appellant was denied the manufacturing exemption provided in section 21 (b) of the Act of June 1,1889, P. L. 420, as amended, 72 PS §1871 (b).

All facts are stipulated and were filed of record prior to argument, along with a waiver of jury trial.

[227]*227It appears from the stipulated facts that appellant is a foreign business corporation incorporated in Delaware in 1922, and is engaged in the business of manufacturing paper products, such as automobile seat covers, with its plant located in Philadelphia. Appellant’s corporate purposes as set forth in its certificate of incorporation are:

“To manufacture, buy, sell, trade and deal in and engage.in, conduct and carry on the business of manufacturing, buying, selling and dealing in paper and paper products of every nature and name.

“To manufacture, buy, sell, deal in, and to engage in, conduct and carry on the business of manufacturing, buying, selling, and dealing in goods, wares and merchandise of every class and description; . . .”

On October 25,1933, Twitchell registered and qualified to do business in Pennsylvania by filing with the Secretary of the Commonwealth the necessary application and, as then required, a copy of its Delaware certificate of incorporation, which set forth, inter alia, the foregoing corporate purposes. The Secretary of the Commonwealth thereupon issued to appellant its certificate of authority by which it was authorized “to transact in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania the business of wholesale paper merchants.” This language was all that appeared in appellant’s certificate of authority pertaining to its corporate purpose, and no specific reference was made to any manufacturing purpose.

It is further stipulated, and there is no question, that Twitchell was engaged in carrying on manufacturing in Pennsylvania throughout the taxable year in question.

The sole issue involved in this proceeding is whether appellant qualifies for the manufacturing exemption provided in the franchise tax law as set forth in section [228]*22821(b), 72 PS §1871 (b), the applicable portion being quoted herewith (act in effect for tax year in question) :

“ (b) Every foreign corporation [subject to the franchise tax] . . . shall . . . pay into the treasury of the Commonwealth annually, ... a franchise tax at the rate of five mills upon a taxable value to be determined in the following manner. The actual value of its whole capital stock . . . shall be ascertained in the manner prescribed in the twentieth section of this act, and shall then be divided in three equal parts.

“ (1) Of one third, such portion shall be attributed to business carried on within the Commonwealth, as shall be found by multiplying said third by a fraction, whose numerator is the value of the taxpayer’s tangible property not actually and exclusively used in manufacturing, situated within the Commonwealth, and whose denominator is the value of all the taxpayer’s tangible property wherever situated.

“ (2) Of another third, such portion shall be attributed to business carried on within the Commonwealth, as shall be found by multiplying said third by a fraction, whose numerator is the expenditures of the taxpayer for wages, salaries, commissions, or other compensation to its employes not exclusively engaged in manufacturing in this Commonwealth and assignable to this Commonwealth as hereinafter provided, and whose denominator is the total expenditures of the taxpayer for wages, salaries, commissions, or other compensation to all its employes.

“(3) Of the remaining third, such portion shall be attributed to business carried on within the Commonwealth, as shall be found by multiplying said third by a fraction, whose numerator is the amount of the taxpayer’s gross receipts from business not strictly incident or appurtenant to manufacturing in this Com[229]*229monwealth assignable to this Commonwealth as hereinafter provided, and whose denominator is the amount of the taxpayer’s gross receipts from all its business. For the purpose of this section, gross receipts shall not include receipts from the sale, redemption, maturity or exchange of securities, except those held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of its trade or business.

“The sum of the amounts, determined in accordance with the foregoing three rules, shall be the taxable value. . . .

“Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection (b), the franchise tax of five mills imposed by subsection (b) on reports filed for the calendar years one thousand nine hundred forty-seven, . . . and one thousand nine hundred fifty-seven, and for fiscal years beginning in the calendar years one thousand nine hundred forty-seven, . . . and one thousand nine hundred fifty-seven, shall apply to the taxation of corporations, limited partnerships and joint-stock associations organized for manufacturing purposes excepting companies engaged in the distilling of liquors, without excluding from the numerators of the applicable fractions tangible property actually and exclusively used in manufacturing, compensation of employes exclusively engaged in manufacturing, and gross receipts from business strictly incident or appurtenant to manufacturing.

“After said eleven year period the provisions of this subsection shall apply to the taxation of corporations, limited partnerships and joint-stock associations organized for manufacturing purposes.” (Italics ours.)

The issue may be stated briefly as follows: In the computation of its franchise tax liability, shall a foreign corporation be denied the manufacturing exemption [230]*230because its certificate of authority granted by the Secretary of the Commonwealth for the conduct of its corporate business in Pennsylvania fails to disclose a manufacturing purpose, even though its certificate of incorporation issued in the domiciliary State and filed with the Secretary sets forth a manufacturing purpose and the foreign 'corporation is in fact engaged in manufacturing within the Commonwealth?

This question presents a case of first impression, there apparently being no decisional authority directly on point. The issue is a narrow one, and will turn upon the construction to be accorded the phrase “organized for manufacturing purposes”, and more particularly, the word “organized”, as used in the franchise tax act.

Appellant argues that “organized” is synonymous with “incorporated”, and that it was clearly incorporated in the State of Delaware for manufacturing purposes, which purposes are admittedly pursued in this Commonwealth. On the other hand, the Commonwealth contends that “organized” means, or should mean, “organized in Pennsylvania”, which, under section 1004(7) of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law of May 5, 1933, P. L. 364, as amended, 15 PS §2852-1004(7), includes a certificate of authority disclosing a manufacturing purpose.

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Related

Commonwealth v. Weldon Pajamas, Inc.
248 A.2d 204 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1968)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 Pa. D. & C.2d 226, 1963 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-twitchell-pactcompldauphi-1963.