Goodwin Volkswagon, Inc. v. Commonwealth

582 A.2d 68, 135 Pa. Commw. 495, 1990 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 564
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 18, 1990
Docket3061 C.D. 1984 and 521 C.D. 1988
StatusPublished

This text of 582 A.2d 68 (Goodwin Volkswagon, Inc. v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodwin Volkswagon, Inc. v. Commonwealth, 582 A.2d 68, 135 Pa. Commw. 495, 1990 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 564 (Pa. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

NARICK, Senior Judge.

Goodwin Volkswagon, Inc. (Petitioner), an automobile dealership, challenges orders of the Board of Finance and Revenue (Board) which modified or sustained decisions of the Board of Appeals pursuant to two assessments issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Revenue (Commonwealth) for the payment of use tax accruing during the audit periods February 1, 1980 through April 30, 1983 (No. 3061 C.D.1984), and January 1, 1984 through September 30, 1986 (No. 521 C.D.1988). These appeals have been consolidated for our consideration. We affirm.

We note that “[a]ppeals to this Court from the Board are de novo.” Bruce & Merrilees Electric Co. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 109 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 101, 104, 530 A.2d 994, 995 (1987). The Board does not certify a record to this Court and pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1571(f), the parties are to “take appropriate steps to prepare and file a stipulation of such facts as may be agreed to and to identify the issues of fact, if any, which remain to be tried.”

Here, Petitioner filed a praecipe for evidentiary hearing in both cases. This Court held the hearing on March 15, 1990, and pursuant thereto, required both parties to file their proposed findings of fact no later than April 13, 1990. Because only the Commonwealth complied, this Court adopted the Commonwealth’s proposed findings of fact as our own in an April 24, 1990 order. Below, we set forth separately the pertinent findings of fact for each case:

[498]*498FINDINGS OF FACT

(No. 3061 C.D.1984)

1. Petitioner is a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in the business of selling and servicing new and used automobiles and trucks.

2. The Commonwealth conducted an audit of Petitioner’s books and records for the period of February 1, 1980 through April 30, 1983 and issued the following assessments (Nos. AM-77405 and AM-77406):

Sales Tax 837.32
Use Tax 10,716.43
Interest * 2,228.69
Penalty 577.76
TOTAL 14,360.20
* Interest to date of assessment.

3. As a result of Petitioner’s October 6,1983 petition for reassessment, the Board of Appeals reduced the assessments on March 16, 1984 and reassessed the Petitioner’s account as follows:

Sales Tax 8.32
Use Tax 10,716.43
TOTAL * 10,724.75
* Plus appropriate interest and penalties.

4. The Board of Finance and Revenue sustained the decision of the Board of Appeals in a September 18, 1984 decision and order.

5. Petitioner filed a timely petition for review with this Court, which was docketed at No. 3061 C.D.1984.

6. Petitioner remitted no use tax to the Department of Revenue (Department) during the audit period.

7. Petitioner had a demonstrator account number 6106 during the audit assessment.

8. Petitioner failed to keep records of vehicles that were used as demonstrators.

9. Petitioner failed to keep records of the use of specific vehicles made by its officers, their families, employees or customers.

[499]*49910. Petitioner lacked records to reflect which vehicles were placed in the demonstrator account or how long a vehicle had been in or stayed in the account.

11. Petitioner used the internal repair order journal (journal) to reflect the charges for all pre-sale work performed on all vehicles, whether or not used for demonstrator purposes.

12. Petitioner did not use the journal for vehicles which had been sold to customers.

13. Auditor’s Exhibit “A,” attached to the audit narrative report, is a sample of repair orders reflecting vehicles which the auditor had determined were placed to a taxable use.

14. Petitioner did not submit any notice to the Department that it intended to use its vehicle inventory for demonstration purposes or other taxable uses and produced no evidence to establish that it affirmatively elected to report tax to the Commonwealth pursuant to the alternate imposition of tax provisions available to automobile dealers.

15. As per the auditor’s affidavit, the total tax due on the use of the vehicles amounts to $36,453.72 plus appropriate interest and penalties, due to Petitioner’s failure to elect under the alternate imposition of tax provisions.

16. Petitioner, on its Pennsylvania Corporate Tax Returns for 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983, reported company car and demonstrator expenses of $21,745.00; $24,761.00; $17,-130.00; and $13,236.00, respectively.

17. Petitioner, on its Pennsylvania Corporate Tax Returns for 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983, reported income from rental of vehicles in the amounts of $22,218.00; $19,175.00; $25,776.00, and $17,185.00, respectively and title and tags in the amounts of $8,731.00; $5,655.00; $5,314.00 and $21,-297.00, respectively.

18. Petitioner, on its Pennsylvania Corporate Tax Returns for 1980, 1981, and 1982, reported depreciation on rental vehicles in the amounts of $3,407.00; $11,289.00; and $7,565.00, respectively.

[500]*50019. Petitioner, on its Pennsylvania Corporate Tax Return for 1983, reported depreciation on leasing vehicles, rental vehicles and company vehicles in the amount of $42,368.00.

20. On May 10, 1989, Petitioner was notified pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1571(e) that the Commonwealth intended to seek an increase in the amount of the tax assessed and to raise the question of whether Petitioner was underassessed on the taxable use of motor vehicles because the assessments were calculated allowing the statutory fair rental value election which Petitioner had not demonstrated it made.

21. Joint Exhibit # 2 reflects that Petitioner was purchasing vehicles with no mileage recorded on each respective odometer and that Petitioner was selling these vehicles after their date of purchase with substantial mileage recorded on the odometer of each vehicle ranging from 46 miles to 14,132 miles.

22. The Petitioner’s salespersons each had two dealer vehicle license plates (tags) assigned to them in order to allow customers overnight or over-the-weekend trials of vehicles.

23. Salespersons employed by the corporation were from time to time for training purposes allowed to use vehicles in inventory for a day or two at a time in order to familiarize themselves with the vehicle.

24. Petitioner had available “house tryout cars,” one for each model sold, in order to allow customers to test drive vehicles outside the possession, custody or control of the corporation or its employees.

25. Petitioner would use its books and records to reflect the removal of a vehicle from new car inventory and into its demonstrator account where it would be recognized by the supplier as sold and entitle Petitioner to obtain larger inventory from its suppliers and a higher new vehicle allocation.

26. Petitioner would also remove vehicles from its new vehicle inventory account and reflect their cost in the dem[501]

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Related

Ernest Renda Contracting Co. v. Commonwealth
532 A.2d 416 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)
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Bruce & Merrilees Electric Co. v. Commonwealth
530 A.2d 994 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1987)

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582 A.2d 68, 135 Pa. Commw. 495, 1990 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodwin-volkswagon-inc-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1990.