Greenville Steel Car Co. v. Commonwealth

343 A.2d 79, 20 Pa. Commw. 385, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1368
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 22, 1975
DocketAppeal, No. 338 C.D. 1973
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 343 A.2d 79 (Greenville Steel Car Co. 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
Greenville Steel Car Co. v. Commonwealth, 343 A.2d 79, 20 Pa. Commw. 385, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1368 (Pa. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge Crumlish, Jr.,

This appeal presents a narrow but important question of first impression under the Tax Reform Code of 1971, Act of May 4, 1971, P.L. 6, as amended, 72 P.S. §§7101 et seq. (Supp. 1974-1975). May a domestic corporation electing to compute and pay its capital stock-franchise tax as a foreign corporation apportion the actual valué of its capital stock if it does not have income from business activity which is taxable in another state for the taxable year ending December 31, 1971 ?

The parties have waived a jury trial and stipulated to the following facts which are binding upon this Court as well as the parties. Anastasi Brothers Corp. v. Commonwealth, 455 Pa. 127, 315 A.2d 267 (1974); Commonwealth v. Carheart Corp., 450 Pa. 291, 299 A.2d 628 (1973). Greenville Steel Car Company (hereinafter “Appellant”) is a Pennsylvania corporation which manufactures and sells railroad cars and earth moving equipment with its principal plant located in Greenville, Pennsylvania. In addition to the sale of its products, both intrastate and interstate during the calendar year ending December 31, 1971, the taxable year here involved, Appellant leased railroad cars to customers with locations both within and without the state. It, however, was not assessed with a net income tax, a franchise tax measured by net income, a franchise tax for the privilege of doing business, or a corporate stock tax by any other state for the 1971 taxable year, although it did pay various ad valorem, property and utility taxes to other states. A capital stock tax report was duly filed with the Department of Revenue (Department) in which Appellant elected to compute its tax as a foreign corporation under section 602(a) of the Tax Reform Code of 1971 (Code), 72 P.S. §7602 (a) (Supp. 1974-1975). The actual value of [387]*387its capital stock was computed to be $15,000,000.00 which, after applying the three-factor apportionment formula of sections 401(3)2. (a)-(10) — (18) of the Code1 72 P.S. Department settled Appellant’s capital stock tax liability at $92,112.00 by reappraising the actual value of its capital stock to be $16,000,000.00 and applying a single §7401(3)2. (a) (10) (18) (Supp. 1974-1975), yielded a tax liability of $74,832.75.2 On September 1, 1972, the taxable assets fraction of $25,422,668.00/$44,159,179.00. The Department disallowed apportionment because Appellant did not have income taxable in another state within the meaning of sections 401(3)2. (a) (2) and (3) [388]*388of the Code, 72 P.S. §7401(3)2. (a) (2) and (3) (Supp. 1974-1975), which it interpreted as a condition precedent to apportionment or allocation for franchise tax purposes. Upon the filing of a petition for resettlement, the Department resettled Appellant’s tax liability to $86,355.75 based upon the same single taxable assets fraction as applied to Appellant’s original appraisal value of $15,000,000.00. On February 28, 1973, the Board of Finance and Revenue refused Appellant’s petition for review of this settlement, and this appeal followed. We affirm.

Section 602(a)- of the Code, 72 P.S. §7602(a),3 preserved the election available to a domestic corporation to compute its capital stock as would a foreign corporation computing its franchise tax as set forth in section 21 (b) of the Franchise Tax Act, Act of June 1, 1889, P.L. 420, as amended, 72 P.S. §1871 (b) (repealed by the Code). Section 602(a) ¡xrovides in pertinent part: “That every domestic corporation . . . shall be subject to, and pay ... a tax at the rate of ten mills, upon each dollar of the actual value of its whole capital stock ... as ascertained in the manner prescribed in section 601, for the calendar year 1971 and the fiscal year beginning in 1971 and each year thereafter, except that any domestic corporation . . . may elect to compute and pay its tax under and in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section 602... .” Subsection (b) of 602, in turn, provides: “Every foreign corporation, joint-stock association, limited partnership, and company whatsoever, from which a report is required under section 601 hereof, shall be subject to and pay ... a franchise tax at the rate of ten 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 section 601 of this article. The taxable value [389]*389shall then be determined by employing the relevant apportionment factors set forth in Article IV....” 72 P.S. §7602 (b), (Emphasis added.) The crux of the instant controversy involves an identification of “the relevant apportionment factors set forth in Article IV” insofar as they apply to a determination of taxable value for franchise tax purposes.

As the above statutory provisions indicate, Article VI of the Code, imposing a capital stock-franchise tax, does not establish an independent apportionment formula as under the prior law, but rather incorporates by reference the apportionment formulas utilized in computing the corporate net income tax under Article IV of the Code (sections 401 et seq., 72 P.S. §7401 et seq.). Under section 401(3), defining “taxable income,” three methods of determining taxable base are delineated, the utilization of which is dependent upon whether the corporation taxed 1) transacts business entirely within the state [§401(3)1.]; 2) transacts business within and without the state [§401(3)2.]; or 3) is a regulated investment company which transacts business within and without the state [401(3)3.]. Appellant clearly falls within the second category, and thus its right to apportion taxable income as well as taxable value is dependent upon its compliance with the provisions of section 401(3)2., 72 P.S. §7401 (3)2. In apportioning actual value of its capital stock, Appellant relied upon subsections (a) (10)-(18) of section 401(3)2., 72 P.S. §7401 (3)2. (a) (10)-(18), as the “relevant apportionment factors set forth in Article IV” for franchise tax purposes. These subsections essentially reestablish the three factor — property, payroll, and sales — apportionment formula under the repealed Franchise Tax Act. Before this apportionment formula may be employed, however, subsection (2) of 401 (3)2. (a) requires, with certain exceptions not relevant here, that the taxpayer have “income from business activity which is taxable both within and without this State....” A [390]*390corporation “is taxable in another state if in that state he is subject to a net income tax, a franchise tax measured by net income, a franchise tax for the privilege of doing business, or a corporate stock tax, or that state has jurisdiction to subject the taxpayer to a net income tax regardless of whether, in fact, the state does or does not.” Section 401(3)2. (a)i (3). of the Code, 72 P.S. §7401(3)2.(a) (3) (Emphasis added.) We agree with the Commonwealth that these provisions establish a condition precedent to allocation and apportionment for both corporate net income and franchise tax purposes. As previously indicated, the stipulation entered into merely states that Appellant was not “assessed” with any of the taxes enumerated in section 403(a) 2. (a)>(3) by any other state for the year in question. The test of section 403 (a)2.

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Bluebook (online)
343 A.2d 79, 20 Pa. Commw. 385, 1975 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1368, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greenville-steel-car-co-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-1975.