Oklahoma Steel Castings Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission

1977 OK 123, 570 P.2d 320, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 619
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJune 14, 1977
DocketNo. 50193
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1977 OK 123 (Oklahoma Steel Castings Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oklahoma Steel Castings Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, 1977 OK 123, 570 P.2d 320, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 619 (Okla. 1977).

Opinion

BARNES, Justice:

This case presents an appeal by Appellant, Oklahoma Steel Castings Company, from Order No. 63710 issued by Appellee, Oklahoma Tax Commission (Commission), September 2, 1976, in Case No. 3750, styled “In the Matter of the Protest of Oklahoma Steel Castings Co., of Additional Sales Taxes for the Period of January 1, 1969, through February 28, 1971.” The order [321]*321from which this appeal is taken determined that although Appellant is not engaged in the business of making wooden patterns for its steel castings, those wooden patterns that it does make are not used by Appellant as the owner of the patterns in a manufacturing process in Oklahoma, and that under those circumstances the wooden patterns are not exempted from sales tax under the exemption provisions of 68 O.S.1971, § 1305(p).

The Commission determined that the protest filed by Appellant should be denied and that appellant should be assessed additional sales tax in the amount of $6,939.70, and penalties of $693.97, plus interest of $2,220.70, for a total aggregate liability of $9,854.37. Appellant appeals, seeking a reversal of the Commission’s order and a refund of the amount paid under protest.

The parties herein are in agreement as to the essential facts. Appellant corporation is engaged in the manufacture of custom-made steel castings. Its principal customers are Oklahoma and out-of-State manufacturers of heavy machinery and equipment. Appellant contracts with its customers to mass-produce a specified number of cast-iron parts. In order to fulfill a customer’s order, unless the customer has provided a pattern for the part, Appellant must procure a pattern, made from wood or other suitable material, either from an outside source or by making the pattern. The record reflects Appellant rarely makes patterns itself. Appellant, once it has procured a pattern, sends the customer a bill for the company’s pattern costs, which is usually the cost of the pattern plus about 10% for administrative costs and handling charges. Billing is made upon receipt of the pattern and it is after that time that a sample casting must be made and approved by the customer before Appellant starts production. No sales tax is charged by Appellant to the customer.

When Appellant fills the order, the customer is billed for the products delivered, but the cost of the pattern is not figured in because it has already been paid for by the customer. Appellant usually retains the pattern on its premises, awaiting further orders for the same part from the customer, but it could be kept by the customer. The pattern is not used by Appellant to fill orders of another customer.

Appellant notes in its brief that most of its customers hold sales tax exemption certificates issued by the Commission. Therefore, Appellant charges the customer no sales tax since the part made by Appellant is used by the customer as a component in a piece of machinery which Appellant’s customer resells to the ultimate customer. The case was not presented on this ground and we do not have sufficient facts to determine what customers hold tax exemption certificates.

Commission contends that at the time Appellant sends the customer a bill for its pattern costs that Appellant has sold the pattern to the customer and a taxable sale has occurred; that since the Appellant no longer owns the pattern, the pattern is no longer machinery or equipment being used by a manufacturer in a manufacturing process so that the sales tax exemption of 68 O.S.1971, § 1305(p), applies.

The question presented is whether Appellant is exempt under 68 O.S.1971, § 1305(p), from sales tax on resale of patterns it uses in its production of custom-made steel castings.

It is to be noted that it is not the Appellant’s original purchase and' subsequent use of the patterns that is in question; rather, it is the resale of those patterns to the Appellant’s customers. It is Commission’s position that the resales of the patterns by the Appellant are subject to the Oklahoma Sales Tax and do not qualify for the exemption under § 1305(p), supra.

Under the Oklahoma Sales Tax Code, 68 O.S.1971, § 1301 et seq., an excise tax is levied upon the gross proceeds or receipts derived from all sales to any person of specifically enumerated items, one of which is tangible personal property. 68 O.S.1971, § 1304(a). However, 68 O.S.1971, § 1305(p), specifically exempts machinery and equipment directly used in manufacturing property subject to taxation under the Sales Tax Code. § 1305(p) reads as follows:

[322]*322“§ 1305. Exemptions.
“There is hereby specifically exempted from the tax levied by this article the gross receipts or gross proceeds derived from the:
* * * * ⅜ *
“(p) Sale of machinery and equipment purchased and used by persons establishing new manufacturing or processing plants in Oklahoma, and machinery and equipment purchased and used by persons in the operation of manufacturing plants already established in Oklahoma; provided, this exemption shall not apply unless such machinery and equipment is incorporated into, and is directly used in, the process of manufacturing property subject to taxation under this article. The term ‘manufacturing plants’ shall mean those establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing or processing operations, and generally recognized as such.” (Emphasis added)

Appellant relies heavily on Baltimore Foundry & Machine Corporation v. Comptroller of the State, 211 Md. 316, 127 A.2d 368 (1956). That case held that where a company, on receiving an order from a customer, placed an order for a pattern with one of two pattern makers, and the company had a dual purpose in buying the pattern, i. e., for resale to a customer at a profit and to make castings with the pattern for sale to a customer at a profit, the company was not liable for sales taxes on patterns. While the facts in that case would seem to be similar to those in the case at bar, we think the case is distinguishable for the reason that the tax therein was imposed upon the purchase by the Appellant of the patterns. The taxable sale in the instant case is not contended to be the purchase of the pattern by Appellant, but is the resale by Appellant to its customer.

Appellant cites a number of cases from the various jurisdictions for the proposition that particular parts or items of tangible personal property, when used in furthering a manufacturing process, are not subject to sales taxes under exemption statutes like our § 1305(p), supra. The Courts in those cases were not dealing with resales of tangible personal property by the manufacturer-purchaser-reseller of the tangible personal property. Rather, those cases dealt with the attempt of the States to collect sales or úse tax upon the sale of the tangible personal property to the manufacturer.

In its second proposition, Appellant contends under the exemption proviso of § 1305(p), supra, that its entire manufacturing process must be viewed as a whole. Appellant urges when the entire process is viewed together, the pattern procurement element is only one of the several costs in the overall “cost of goods sold.”

Additionally, Appellant argues that it does not sell patterns to its customers under 68 O.S.1971, § 1302(c), which states:

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Bluebook (online)
1977 OK 123, 570 P.2d 320, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 619, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oklahoma-steel-castings-co-v-oklahoma-tax-commission-okla-1977.