Concordia Parish School Bd. v. Russ

491 So. 2d 1368
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 25, 1986
Docket85-660
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 491 So. 2d 1368 (Concordia Parish School Bd. v. Russ) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Concordia Parish School Bd. v. Russ, 491 So. 2d 1368 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

491 So.2d 1368 (1986)

CONCORDIA PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
J.A. RUSS, d/b/a J.A. Russ Construction Company, Inc., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 85-660.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

June 25, 1986.
Rehearing Denied August 13, 1986.

*1370 Daniel W. Richey, Vidalia, for defendant-appellant.

Jack H. McLemore, Jr., Vidalia, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before STOKER, KING and COX,[*] JJ.

STOKER, Judge.

This suit concerns a demand for payment of a sales-use tax. Four local governmental units allege that Russ Construction Company, Inc. owes them sales-use tax on construction materials used in projects located within each of their respective jurisdictions.[1] Concordia Parish School Board (School Board), Concordia Parish Police Jury (Police Jury), City of Vidalia (Vidalia), and City of Ferriday (Ferriday) are the local governing bodies which claim the sales-use tax is owed.

The trial court held that the taxes sought to be collected are owed. The taxpayer resists payment of the tax and appeals the trial court judgment. We remand the case for reconsideration in light of principles we discuss which were neither argued by counsel nor considered by the trial court.

Russ Construction Company, Inc. (Russ Co.) is a Mississippi corporation which has been engaged in general contracting in Louisiana for over thirty years. The controversy over the sales-use tax concerns four specific projects in Louisiana: Concordia Bank Building in Vidalia, Concordia Bank Building in Ferriday, Concordia Parish Airport and Alcoa Plant in Vidalia. In April 1984, the Concordia Parish Tax Director, representing the School Board, Police Jury, Vidalia, Ferriday, and others not pertinent to this case, audited Russ Co.'s books on these projects. As a result of the audit, the local governmental units demanded that Russ Co. pay the appropriate sales-use taxes which they concluded Russ Co. owed. A demand letter was sent to Russ Co. in June 1984. The four governmental units brought suit by summary process on June 26, 1984. Various exceptions were filed and on October 9, 1984 the four suits were consolidated for trial.

The trial judge held that Russ Co. was a "dealer" as defined by the respective ordinances, had not paid the tax to the respective taxing authorities, and therefore owed the taxes demanded plus penalties on a portion of the taxes due and attorney's fees.

FACTS

In the course of fulfilling four construction projects in Concordia Parish, Russ Co. obtained building materials from outside the parish. Many, but not all, of the suppliers were located in Mississippi. The local taxing authorities claim that they did not receive the appropriate sales-use tax on any of the materials purchased.

*1371 The respective ordinances under which the taxing authorities claim the sales-use taxes are, for all practical purposes, identical. Therefore, when we refer to "the ordinance" the reference is to any and all of the ordinances at issue. (All numerical references will be to the School Board ordinance.) The School Board levies a 1% sales-use tax throughout the parish. The Police Jury levies a 1% sales-use tax in all areas of Concordia Parish outside Vidalia and Ferriday. Vidalia and Ferriday each levy a 1% sales-use tax in their respective cities. The result of this taxing arrangement is that a taxpayer owes 2% local sales-use tax.

The plaintiff taxing authorities submitted into evidence the invoices of supplies bought by Russ Co. for the projects in question. These invoices can be divided into four categories based upon tax information reflected (or not reflected) on the invoices.

Category 1

Category 1 includes all invoices on which there is no indication that a tax was charged.

Category 2

Category 2 includes all invoices which indicate that a 3% sales tax was charged. (Some of these indicate that the 3% sales tax was Louisiana state sales tax. Three percent was the prevailing state sales-use tax rate at that time.)

Category 3

Category 3 includes all invoices which indicate that at least a 5% sales tax was charged.

Category 4

The fourth category includes all invoices which show less than 5% sales tax charged.

The plaintiff taxing authorities contend that they received no taxes on any of the invoiced purchases. They further contend that Russ Co. fits the definition of "dealer" under the ordinance and is therefore responsible for remitting all sales taxes directly to the plaintiffs. They also claim that Russ Co. should receive no credit on local use taxes for any sales taxes paid to suppliers outside of Concordia Parish.

Defendant Russ Co. claims that it paid all taxes to the sellers. It argues that sellers, not buyers, are responsible for remitting all taxes to the taxing authorities. It claims penalties, interest, attorney's fees, and costs were improperly assessed (1) because there is no statute assessing these to a purchaser—user—consumer or (2) because the defendant acted in good faith. In addition, Russ Co. believes that it should receive credit on local use taxes for any sales taxes paid to suppliers outside of Concordia Parish. Russ Co. also argues that plaintiffs should be estopped from collecting the taxes because in the thirty years that defendant had done business in Louisiana, plaintiffs had never demanded payment of any taxes. Finally, defendant claims the trial court allowed the summary proceeding to be prolonged for eleven months in contravention of the time limitations provided by LSA-R.S. 47:1574(1), (2), and (3). Therefore, the court was without authority to render the judgment.

DISCUSSION OF LAW

I.

The trial court based its decision on a finding that Russ Co. is a "dealer" and that a "dealer" must collect and remit sales-use tax to the taxing authority. We do not conclude that the issues in this case may be disposed of on the simple basis of classification of the defendant as a "dealer." Moreover, we are not convinced that such a classification may be made with precision or technical accuracy. We do not regard classification in this regard as the key to the case as it appears to have been so concluded by the trial court.

The definition of "dealer" in the ordinance is so broad that it lacks specific meaning when taken out of the context of the taxable transaction in question. It is necessary to look at the entire ordinance to perceive its overall purpose and intent. McNamara v. U.O.P., Inc., 389 So.2d 741 (La.App. 2d Cir.1980), writ denied, 396 So.2d 898 (La.1980).

*1372 The ordinance defines "Dealer" as follows:

"SECTION 1.05. `Dealer' shall include every person who:

"(1) manufactures or produces tangible personal property from any State, or other political subdivision of this State, or foreign country, for sale at retail, for use or consumption, or distribution, or storage to be used or consumed in this Parish;
"(2) imports, or causes to be imported, tangible personal property from any State, or other political subdivision of this State, or foreign country, for sale at retail, for use or consumption, or distribution, or storage to be used or consumed in this Parish;
"(3) sells at retail, or who offers to sell at retail, or who has in his possession for sale at retail, or for use, or consumption, or distribution, or storage to be used or consumed in this Parish, tangible personal property;

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bridges v. Cepolk Corp.
153 So. 3d 1137 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Lake Charles Memorial Hosp. v. Parish of Calcasieu
728 So. 2d 454 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
Amberg Trucking, Inc. v. Tarver
626 So. 2d 511 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. McNamara
550 So. 2d 1345 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
Bill Roberts, Inc. v. McNamara
539 So. 2d 1226 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1989)
Bill Roberts, Inc. v. McNamara
527 So. 2d 459 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
McNamara v. DH Holmes Co., Ltd.
505 So. 2d 102 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
Concordia Parish School Board v. Russ
496 So. 2d 350 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1986)
City of Vidalia v. Russ
491 So. 2d 1378 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
City of Ferriday v. Russ
491 So. 2d 1379 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
Concordia Parish Police Jury v. Russ
491 So. 2d 1379 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
491 So. 2d 1368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/concordia-parish-school-bd-v-russ-lactapp-1986.