Seidenbach's v. Bland Terry Shoe Corp.

292 F.2d 206
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 5, 1961
DocketNos. 6583, 6584
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 292 F.2d 206 (Seidenbach's v. Bland Terry Shoe Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seidenbach's v. Bland Terry Shoe Corp., 292 F.2d 206 (10th Cir. 1961).

Opinion

LEWIS, Circuit Judge.

This is an action for an accounting brought by Bland Terry Shoe Corporation against Seidenbach’s with jurisdiction based upon diversity of citizenship and a claim for $12,434.25 alleged due under a contract which had governed the relationship of the parties from January 1950 until January 1959. Seidenbach’s is an established department store in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Bland Terry is a Georgia corporation operating a chain of leased shoe departments in comparable outlets throughout the nation. Judgment favored Bland Terry in the sum of $8,718.20 based upon the trial court’s allowance of some of Seidenbach’s disputed credits against the claim and the disallowance of other claimed credits. By appeal and cross-appeal, the parties seek review of the various items considered by the trial court. The appellant Seidenbach also raises, and for the first time on appeal, a jurisdictional question which requires preliminary consideration of whether proof of compliance with the Oklahoma Intangible Tax Law, 68 O.S.A. § 1515, is a condition precedent to the bringing of this action. The statute provides:

“In every action or suit in any court for the collection of any bond, note, account receivable, or other intangible personal property as defined in Section 1 of this Act, the plaintiff must allege and prove:
“That such intangible personal property sued upon has been assessed for taxation under the provisions of this Act for every tax year during which he was the owner of same, and that all taxes, together with accrued interest and penalties, assessed upon the property for such period, have been paid; provided, that the plain[208]*208tiff shall not be required to prove assessment and payment hereunder for a period of more than three (3) fiscal years prior to the time of bringing his action, nor for any period of time in which the subject of his action was not taxable under this Act; and provided further, if such intangible property is not subject to such taxes he may so allege, stating the controlling facts upon which is based such allegation.
“If the petition or complaint of the plaintiff fails to make the allegations herein prescribed, or if he fails to prove facts supporting such allegations when made, the action must be dismissed upon demurrer or motion of the defendant, or by the court on its own motion.”

It is conceded that Bland Terry neither alleged nor proved any facts pertaining to the assessment or taxation of the basis of its claim and that if such is necessary through the compulsion of the statute that this action must now be dismissed or remanded to the trial court for proof of statutory compliance. The question of compliance is jurisdictional and may be raised for the first time on appeal. Harris v. Conway, Okl., 343 P.2d 1069; Britton v. Dowell, 10 Cir., 237 F.2d 630.

The Oklahoma intangible tax is not a privilege or occupation tax and is not a tax on net income. It is a specific tax on intangibles in lieu of an ad valorem tax. In re Harris, Upham & Co., 194 Okl. 155, 148 P.2d 191. To come within the impact of the statute the debt sought to be recovered must fall within the definition of 68 O.S.A. § 15011 and have a business situs within the state as contemplated under 68 O.S.A. § 1504.2 An understanding of the nature of Bland Terry’s claim is therefore necessary as a premise to a consideration of the adequacy of the pleading.

In its broadest aspect the contract between the parties provided for the furnishing of space within the Seidenbach’s store for the retail sale of Bland Terry shoes sold through Bland Terry personnel but so operated as to appear to be an integrated part of Seidenbach’s. No displays indicated to the buying public the presence of the leasing firm and Seide’nbach’s accepted customer responsibility for the Bland Terry shoes to the same extent as for its own merchandise in other departments of the store. Credit sales were collected by Seidenbach’s and the gross receipts from cash sales were reported to Seidenbach’s and the proceeds turned over to that firm. Seidenbach’s handled the accounting and returned to Bland Terry on the fifteenth of each [209]*209month the amounts collected less expenses paid by the store for Bland Terry and less twelve per cent of the gross sales for use of the premises. The instant suit was brought by Bland “Terry to recover the amount of money in Seidenbach’s possession as a result of business done during the final two months of the parties’ dealings, but during trial and on appeal Seidenbach’s has raised issues concerned with events occurring during the entire relationship.

In contending that proof of compliance with the Oklahoma Intangible Tax Law is a condition precedent to this action, Seidenbach’s likens the present case to the case of Edmonds v. White, 203 Okl. 231, 219 P.2d 1007, which held that a rental contract, breached by the lessee-defendant, was a “bill receivable” or a “credit” within the meaning of the statute. However, in that case, it was held that the chose in action was taxable to the lessor as owner of the obligation and cannot be correlated with this ease where the lessee seeks to obtain money withheld as a result of an accounting arrangement.

Although Seidenbach’s recognizes that its disputation of a right to a guaranteed minimum, to be discussed later, rendered a satisfactory accounting between the parties impossible, it contends that the amount due for the month of December, 1958, was liquidated by agreement between the parties and hence should have been registered for assessment before March 15, 1959. A dispute as to the fiscal year minimum did not arise until January 15, 1959; therefore, appellant contends that this could not cause the amount to be uncertain so as to excuse compliance with the tax assessment law, Cravens v. Hughes, 207 Okl. 503, 250 P.2d 877. The fact that certain matters are unliquidated will not render the entire debt non-assessable where claims are separable, Rogers v. Goodwin, 208 Okl. 110, 253 P.2d 844. However, the trial court found the entire claim to be unliquidated, and we believe correctly so. The definition of “liquidated account” is not peculiar to the statute and the Supreme Court has held that a liquidated account is one the amount of which is agreed upon by the parties or fixed by operation of law, Gasper v. Mayer, 171 Okl. 457, 43 P.2d 467. But the evidence of agreement as to the amount due from Seidenbach’s to Bland Terry is far from convincing that the parties ever reached any accord on any separable claim as of the assessment date. An undated statement of account struck as of February 28, 1959, showed an amount due Bland Terry for the month of December 1958 of $9,355.01; on April 3, 1959, Bland Terry agreed to accept this figure as representing net sales less payments made for the Bland Terry account. In the meantime, the arguments between the parties over other matters had increased so that on October 2, 1959, Seidenbach’s answered Bland Terry’s interrogatory :

“Defendant attempted to make complete settlement with the plaintiff but was unable to agree with plaintiff on a (for the month of December) settlement.”

For this reason and the entire nature of the dealings between the parties, it appears that this case falls within the rule of Lumbermen’s Supply Co. v. Neal, 189 Okl.

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292 F.2d 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seidenbachs-v-bland-terry-shoe-corp-ca10-1961.