Procter & Gamble Co. v. Lindley

477 N.E.2d 1109, 17 Ohio St. 3d 71, 17 Ohio B. 196, 1985 Ohio LEXIS 316
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1985
DocketNo. 84-850
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 477 N.E.2d 1109 (Procter & Gamble Co. v. Lindley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Procter & Gamble Co. v. Lindley, 477 N.E.2d 1109, 17 Ohio St. 3d 71, 17 Ohio B. 196, 1985 Ohio LEXIS 316 (Ohio 1985).

Opinions

Wright, J.

The sole issue presented in this appeal is whether appellant’s purchase of artwork from outside artists, which artwork is subsequently transferred to appellant’s packaging or advertising materials suppliers, is exempt from sales and use taxes pursuant to R.C. 5739.01(E)(1) and 5741.02(C)(2). Appellant claims these exemptions on the basis that it “resells” the artwork to its suppliers. For the reasons that follow, this [73]*73court holds that the exemptions set forth in R.C. 5739.01(E)(1) and 5741.02(C)(2) are applicable herein and sales and use taxes were improperly levied on the purchase of this artwork by appellant from outside artists for the calendar years 1974 through 1976.

R.C. 5739.02 imposes an excise tax on each retail sale made in Ohio, with R.C. 5741.02 imposing a complementary excise tax on the use of tangible personal property in Ohio. Pursuant to R.C. 5741.02(C)(2), however, such use tax will not apply where the acquisition of the property is exempt from sales tax. As such, this court need only focus on the relevant sales tax provisions.

Certain items purchased are exempted from sales taxation by virtue of R.C. 5739.01(E)(1), which provides in pertinent part as follows:

“ ‘Retail sale’ and ‘sales at retail’ include all sales except those in which the purpose of the consumer is:
“(1) To resell the thing in the form in which the same is, or is to be, received by him; * * *”

In the instant case, there is no dispute that the artwork received by appellant is transferred in the form in which it was received. The critical inquiry is whether this transfer constituted a “sale” within the meaning of the Sales Tax Act.

R.C. 5739.01(B) defines “ ‘[s]ale’ and ‘selling’ [to] include all transactions by which title or possession, or both, of tangible personal property, is or is to be transferred, or a license to use or consume tangible personal property is or is to be granted * * * for a consideration * * (Emphasis added.)

This court, in Kloepfer’s, Inc. v. Peck (1953), 158 Ohio St. 577, 578 [49 O.O. 483], held that “* * * the mere transfer of possession of property is not, within the meaning of the * * * statutory definition, a sale unless it is a transfer ‘for a consideration.’1 R.C. 5739.01(B) provides the following broad definition of “consideration”: “* * * for a consideration in any manner, whether absolutely or conditionally, whether for a price or rental, in money or by exchange, and by any means whatsoever. * * *”

Case law is in accord, for “consideration” as used in R.C. 5739.01(B) has not been limited solely to monetary consideration. In light of this factor, we believe that our decision in General Motors Corp. v. Kosydar (1974), 37 Ohio St. 2d 138 [66 O.O.2d 304], is dispositive of the present appeal.

In General Motors, we held that the transfer of tooling from General Motors to its suppliers for their exclusive use in the production of automotive parts was supported by consideration and thus constituted a “resale” pursuant to R.C. 5739.01(E)(1). Appellant has carefully delineated the many similarities between General Motors and the case at [74]*74bar.2 These similarities are obvious and compelling, and serve to establish, in each case, sufficient legal detriment necessary to a finding of consideration. In each case, the suppliers must satisfy rigorous qualifying standards. The procedures for the granting of a contract are also comparable in both cases. The suppliers must further agree to meet requirements concerning confidentiality, exclusive use, time, quality, and quantity. In each case, the supplier had possession of, but not title to, the item transferred [75]*75and was required to surrender possession of the item under specified circumstances, such as default, strike, work stoppage, insolvency or inability to perform. The only noteworthy distinction between the two cases makes appellant’s position even stronger. In the case at bar, appellant physically transferred the artwork to its suppliers while the suppliers in General Motors simply retained possession of the tooling.

Furthermore, we note the existence of a bilateral requirements contract in both cases. In assessing this issue in General Motors we stated:

“The contractual agreements between General Motors and its outside suppliers constitute bilateral ‘requirements’ contracts. The agreement calls for a mutual exchange of promises between General Motors and its suppliers. General Motors covenants to the suppliers to grant an exclusive license to use General Motors’ tooling and a promise to pay the suppliers for all General Motors’ requirements of the tooling which the suppliers produce. In return, the suppliers promise to produce all the parts General Motors requires * * *.” Id. at 146.

We also recognized that “* * * the business necessity for, and the legality of, requirements contracts, stating that the mutual promises of the buyer to buy and the seller to sell the requirements of a commodity are consideration one for the other. Likewise, it has been stated another way — that the promise of a seller not to manufacture except for the buyer, or the promise of the buyer not to buy except from a particular seller, is clearly a promise to do something detrimental.” Id. at 147.

Here, as in General Motors, the appellant has effectively granted to each supplier an exclusive license to use the particular artwork specified in the contract between them and has promised to pay the supplier for all of its requirements of the contracted-for packaging materials upon which the artwork is affixed. In return, the supplier has promised to use the artwork exclusively for the appellant and to produce all of the appellant’s requirements of the particular finished packaging materials. With respect to the artwork and packaging materials specified in each individual requirements contract, the supplier has agreed not to manufacture the contracted-for product except for the appellant, and the appellant, in nearly every instance, has agreed not to purchase that particular finished product from any other supplier.3 This clearly is a promise to do something detrimental, and, thus, is sufficient consideration to satisfy the requirements of R.C. 5739.01(B).

The appellee has submitted two cases, Coca-Cola Bottling Corp. v. Kosydar (1975), 43 Ohio St. 2d 186 [72 O.O.2d 104], and General Mills Fun [76]*76Group, Inc. v. Lindley (1982), 1 Ohio St. 3d 27, in support of its position that consideration is lacking under R.C. 5739.01(B) and that the resale exception of R.C. 5739.01(E)(1), therefore, is unavailable. These cases are distinguishable.

In Coca-Cola we held there was no consideration for the taxpayer’s transfer of equipment to its customers for their use in dispensing beverages when there was no direct charge for the use of the equipment. Unlike the present case, Coca-Cola involves neither a requirements contract nór an exclusive dealing arrangement. Thus, the finding of no consideration was based upon factors entirely different from those existing in the situation at hand. Furthermore, the loaned equipment in Coca-Cola

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
477 N.E.2d 1109, 17 Ohio St. 3d 71, 17 Ohio B. 196, 1985 Ohio LEXIS 316, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/procter-gamble-co-v-lindley-ohio-1985.