Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc. v. Department of Revenue

648 So. 2d 571, 1993 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 388, 1993 WL 333492
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 3, 1993
DocketAV92000300
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 648 So. 2d 571 (Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc. v. Department of Revenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc. v. Department of Revenue, 648 So. 2d 571, 1993 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 388, 1993 WL 333492 (Ala. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

YATES, Judge.

The Alabama Department of Revenue (Department) assessed use taxes, along with penalties and interest, against Fleming Foods of Alabama, Incorporated (Fleming Foods). Following a ruling by an administrative law judge in favor of the Department, Fleming Foods appealed the assessment to the Circuit Court of Geneva County (trial court). The trial court found that the assessment as to certain vehicles operated by Fleming Foods was legally and constitutionally assessed, that the assessment was correct, and it directed the Department to finalize the assessment. After its motion for new trial was denied, Fleming Foods appealed.

On appeal, Fleming Foods states its issue as follows: “Under the laws of Alabama and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, may [the Department] impose a use tax on [Fleming Foods] for the use ... of trucks and trailers which are instrumentalities of interstate commerce and have been and are continuously in use in interstate commerce.”

In stating applicable standards for our review, we first note that Ala.Code 1975, § 40-2-22, pertaining to appeals from final assessments made by the Department, has been repealed by Act No. 92-186, Ala. Acts 1992, and, along with several other code sections, has been replaced by the “Alabama Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights and Uniform Revenue Procedures Act,” Ala.Code 1975, § 40-2A-1 et seq. Section 83 of Act No. 92-186 provides, in most cases, an effective date of October 1, 1992. Based on the facts here, this court is of the opinion that, despite being repealed by Act No. 92-186, the provisions of § 40-2-22 still apply to this particular case. See Bryson v. Central Electric Co., 402 So.2d 922 (Ala.1981); Cf. Wilkinson v. State ex rel. Morgan, 396 So.2d 86 (Ala.1981) (where express repeal of statute operated to dissolve injunction entered pursuant to repealed statute, due to “continuing” nature of injunctions). As such, the assessment made by the Department shall be considered correct pri-ma facie, and the taxpayer, here Fleming Foods, has the burden of proving that the assessment is incorrect. Ala.Code 1975, § 40-2-22.

Also, we acknowledge the well-known rule of construction concerning exemption statutes in taxation:

[572]*572“ ‘[Exemptions from taxation, whether statutory or constitutional, are to be strictly construed, against the exemption and in favor of the right to tax, and ... no person or property is to be exempted unless the intention to exempt such person or property clearly appears in some statute or constitutional provision.’ Furthermore, it has long been the rule that one seeking an exemption from taxation assumes the burden to clearly establish the right, and that in all cases of doubt as to legislative intention, the presumption is in favor of the taxing power.”

Community Action Agency of Huntsville, Madison County, Inc. v. State, 406 So.2d 890, 893-94 (Ala.1981) (citations omitted).

The parties in this ease entered a joint stipulation of facts which stated, in pertinent part, the following:

“1. [Fleming Foods], an Alabama corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fleming Companies, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation.
“2. The State of Alabama and the City of Geneva have assessed use taxes in the principal amounts of $13,753.61 and $4,584.54 respectively against certain vehicles in question in the possession of Fleming Foods ... for the period of July 1, 1981 through June 30, 1984. Those vehicles in question are:
“(a) [Omitted]
“(b) Eight 1983 and 1984 Polar American trailers;
“(c) Thirteen 1983 and 1984 Peterbilt trucks.
“3. Fleming Foods ... acquired the use of the vehicles which were purchased through the parent corporation, Fleming Companies, Inc.
“4. The tractors and trailers are titled and registered in the State of Utah in the name of Fleming Companies, Inc. under the provisions of the International Registration Plan.
“5. The amount of registration fees payable to the State of Alabama pursuant to the IRP has not been affected by the titling and base registration of the vehicles in Utah rather than Alabama. All registration fees due to the State of Alabama on account of the vehicles have been paid.
“6. Fleming Foods ... derived revenue during the period in question from:
“(a) the distribution of wholesale groceries from Fleming Companies, Inc., warehouses to various retail grocery stores located in [various southeastern and southwestern states, including Alabama].
“(b) the transportation of commodities from various locations in the above-referenced states to Fleming Companies, Inc.’s wholesale distribution centers as a compensated intercorporate hauler within ICC guidelines and authority therefor.
“(e) the transportation of various commodities between non-Fleming entities in the above-referenced states as a[n] ICC common carrier.
“(d) the wholesale brokering of transportation services for commodities which: (1) do not belong to Fleming Companies, Inc. and which are transported by Fleming Companies, Inc., or (2) which belong to Fleming Companies, Inc., but which are transported by unrelated entities.
“7. The vehicles in question were manufactured and purchased outside of the State of Alabama.
“8. In 1984, the fleet of vehicles comprising Fleming Foods ... travelled a total of 6,143,530 miles logging 2,341,153 of those miles in the State of Alabama; as such 38% of Fleming Foods total miles were logged in the State of Alabama....
“9. The 1983 and 1984 Polar American trailers were manufactured in Texas. Fleming Companies, Inc. took possession of the trailers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma whereupon they were inspected by Fleming Companies, Inc. employees, custom modified for the company’s use, and delivered to Fleming Foods ... in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“10. Before the 1983 and 1984 Polar American trailers first entered the State of Alabama, they had been used to haul commodities in interstate commerce. When they first entered the [S]tate of Alabama they were under load with commodities being transported into and through the [573]*573state in the course of interstate commerce. The trailers since have been used continuously in interstate commerce in the above described fashion.
“11. [Omitted]
“12. Although the trailers are most frequently dispatched from the Geneva, Alabama facility of Fleming Foods ..., they frequently are dropped at other Fleming Companies, Inc. facilities in other states. When the trailers are at those facilities, they are used by Fleming Companies, Inc. or its subsidiaries for transportation not related to the specific uses of Fleming Foods.... This is referred to within the company as ‘swapping out.’
“13. Fleming Foods ... may not sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicles without the approval of Fleming Companies, Inc.
“14. The 1983 and 1984 Peterbilt trucks were ordered by employees of Fleming Companies, Inc.

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Related

Ex Parte Fleming Foods of Alabama, Inc.
648 So. 2d 577 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1994)

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648 So. 2d 571, 1993 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 388, 1993 WL 333492, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fleming-foods-of-alabama-inc-v-department-of-revenue-alacivapp-1993.