Mississippi State Tax Commission v. Flora Drug Co.

148 So. 373, 167 Miss. 1, 1933 Miss. LEXIS 113
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 22, 1933
DocketNo. 30401.
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 148 So. 373 (Mississippi State Tax Commission v. Flora Drug Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mississippi State Tax Commission v. Flora Drug Co., 148 So. 373, 167 Miss. 1, 1933 Miss. LEXIS 113 (Mich. 1933).

Opinions

Ethridge, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

The appellee, a duly licensed retail drug dealer, engaged in selling drugs, sundries, cigars, cigarettes, smoking tobacco, and tobacco products, filed a petition in the circuit court in the first district of Hinds county, Mississippi, against the state tax commission and the members thereof, seeking to compel the commission, by mandamus, to sell said dealer stamps as required by chapter 92, Laws of 1932, alleging that sections 3, 5, and G of said chapter are unconstitutional for various reasons, and, if enforced, would operate to destroy a lucrative business.

Counsel for appellee, the Flora Drug Company, summarizes its contentions as follows:

(1) “The provisions of section G deprive appellee of its property without due process of law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, *16 and section 14 of the Mississippi Constitution, because: (a) The enforcement thereof will prevent appellee from engaging in the business of selling its cigars and carrying on its lawful business; (b) The requirement by section 6 that appellee shall take its cigars to the nearest wholesaler for stamping is unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary; (c) The requirement that only wholesalers may purchase and affix the stamps, and that retailers who purchase tobacco from wholesalers who do not hold a permit must, within forty-eight hours, carry them to the nearest wholesaler holding such permit, to have stamps affixed, is not only unreasonable, arbitrary,' burdensome and oppressive to appellee, but is not reasonably necessary to the object sought to be accomplished by the legislation. ”

(2) “The provisions of section 6 deny unto appellee the equal protection of the laws, as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, because, (a) The provisions of section 6 do not operate fairly, equally and uniformly upon all property of the same class and description, nor do they apply impartially as between appellee and other retail dealers in the same class; (b) The provisions of section 6 impose a tax upon false and unjust principles, and operate to cause inequality and discrimination as between retail tobacco dealers of the same class, character and description.”

(3) “The provisions of section 6 are violative of the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution, because, (a) They create an illiberal and unjust restraint upon commerce and trade between the states, and thus impose a burden on interstate commerce; (b) The regulatory provisions of section 6, requiring the retailer who purchases unstamped tobacco in interstate commerce to carry same to the nearest wholesale dealer holding a permit, as applied to the appellee, effectually prevents appellee from purchasing such goods in interstate commerce; (c) The provisions of section 6 are discrimina *17 tive and burdensome to such a degree as to impair the right of appellee, a citizen of Mississippi, to move his property into the state. ’ ’

The provisions of the statute challenged in this lawsuit require every person engaged in the business of purchasing, selling, or distributing tobacco in this state to file with the commissioner an application for a permit allowing him td engage in such business, within thirty days after the passage of the act, and that such permit shall he displayed at all times in some conspicuous place at or near his place of business, and, if a transient vendor, he shall have such permit in his possession. Section 5 of the act provides that any person engaged in such business without such permit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Section 6 of the act complained of .reads as follows:

“There is hereby imposed, levied and assessed to be collected and paid as hereinafter provided in this act, an excise or privilege tax on each dealer in tobacco, as herein defined, computed at the rate of one cent for each five cents, or fractional part thereof of the retail selling price, which tax shall be paid in the following manner: Every wholesaler shall purchase stamps as herein provided and affix the same to all tobacco handled by him as herein provided. Any retailer who shall receive any tobacco otherwise than from a wholesaler having a permit as herein provided, shall, after the receipt of such tobacco, within the time limit herein provided, present the same to some wholesaler having such permit for the affixing of the stamps required, and it shall be the duty of such wholesaler, thereupon and upon the payment to him by such retailer of the face value of the stamps required, to affix said stamps to said tobacco in the same manner as if said tobacco were handled and sold by said wholesaler, provided, that in the event any wholesaler within this state refuses to affix the stamps on any tobacco upon the request of any retailer, as herein pro *18 vided, said wholesaler shall forfeit to the state a penalty of twenty-five dollars for each offense, same to be collected as provided by law for the collection of other penalties, and in addition thereto, in the discretion of the court forfeit his permit to handle the stamps herein provided for. And in event of such refusal on the part of any wholesaler to affix the stamps upon the request of any retailer, said retailer may make application to the commissioner for stamps to be placed on the tobacco upon which the wholesaler refused to affix the stamps, said application to be accompanied with an affidavit of the retailer or some other credible person, setting forth the facts, whereupon the commissioner may issue and sell to such retailer a sufficient number of stamps to be affixed to the .tobacco upon which such wholesaler refused to affix the stamps. Stamps shall not be affixed to any tobacco, as herein provided, except by wholesalers having permits, except as hereinabove provided, and any wholesaler or manufacturer within or without this state may, upon application, be entitled to receive such permit and shall thereupon be authorized to purchase the stamps, and affix the same to tobacco, as herein provided. Stamps shall not be required by this act to be affixed to any tobacco while the same is in interstate commerce. In no case shall the provisions of this act be construed to require the payment of a tax upon any tobacco upon which the tax herein levied has once been paid to the state. ’ ’

Section 7 of the act provides that, if any clause or part of section 3 shall be declared invalid, then all of said sections 5 and 6 shall be invalid, and sections 8, 9-, and 10-following shall apply in lieu thereof.

The principal challenge is, as we conceive it, that said act is in violation of the due process clause of the state and Federal Constitutions (Mississippi, 1890, section 14; U. S. Amend. 14), in that it imposes an arbitrary and unreasonable restriction upon a lawful business. However, there are other grounds to be noticed.

*19 It is one of the most important and necessary functions of government that taxes be raised for the purpose of maintaining the government, and the Legislature. is granted a wide field in choosing the subjects of taxation and in providing methods and a system of collecting them.

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Bluebook (online)
148 So. 373, 167 Miss. 1, 1933 Miss. LEXIS 113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mississippi-state-tax-commission-v-flora-drug-co-miss-1933.