Stanolind Pipe Line Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission

30 F. Supp. 131, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1960
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 9, 1939
DocketNo. 6303
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 30 F. Supp. 131 (Stanolind Pipe Line Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stanolind Pipe Line Co. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission, 30 F. Supp. 131, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1960 (W.D. Okla. 1939).

Opinion

VAUGHT, District Judge.

The plaintiff brings this' action against the Oklahoma Tax Commission seeking to recover certain taxes paid under protest, which were collected by the tax commission under what is known as the “Use Tax Act of 1937.” 68 Okl.St.Ann. § 1291 et seq. Said act provides:

“Section 4. There is hereby levied and there shall be collected from every person using, within this State, any article of tangible personal property purchased, leased, rented or exchanged subsequent to the date of passage and approval of this Act, an excise tax for the privilege of so using such tangible personal property. Such tax shall be and is hereby levied, and shall be collected in an amount equal to two (2%) per centum of the purchase price (as defined in Section 3 of this Act) of such tangible personal property.” 68 Okl. St.Ann. § 1294.

“Section 7. The tax hereby levied shall be collected by the Commission.

“Section 8. Each taxpayer subject to the provisions of this Act shall, on or before the 15th day of every calendar month, file a return with the Commission, on blanks furnished by the Commission, showing in detail the total purchase price of 'tangible personal property used by him within the State during the preceding calendar month subject to the tax herein imposed and such other information as the Commission may deem pertinent. Each taxpayer shall remit to the Commission, with each such return, the amount of tax shown thereon to be due. Such return shall be made under oath.

“Section 9. If the amount of tax imposed by this Act is not paid on or before the date prescribed for its payment, there shall be collected, as a part of the tax, a [132]*132penalty upon said unpaid amount at the rate of one (1%) per centum per month from the date prescribed for its payment until it is- paid. In addition to the above prescribed penalty, there shall be collected an additional penalty of ten (10%) per centum on the tax due when such tax is nqt paid within a period of thirty (30) days after the final date prescribed for its payment.” 68 Okl.St.Ann. §§ 1297-1299.

The plaintiff alleges that the taxes so paid amounted to $8,982.25 from May, 1937, to and including March, 1939, for which it seeks judgment together with interest.

The plaintiff alleges in its petition that said taxes so levied are excise taxes for the use of certain tangible personal property in the repair and upkeep of an interstate pipe line and that said taxes either constitute a “use tax” for said purposes or they constitute ad valorem taxes upon the property so used in said repair and upkeep of said interstate pipe line, and contends that if they are levied under the first theory said levy is in violation of and contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, U.S.C.A., in that it constitutes a taking of plaintiff’s property without due process of law and that it also creates and constitutes a burden upon and interference with interstate transactions in violation of and contrary to the commerce clause of the Federal Constitution, U.S.C.A.Const. art. 1, § 8, cl. 3. If said taxes are levied under the second theory, that is upon an ad valorem basis, then said levy is violative of the Constitution of Oklahoma, Okl.St.Ann.Const, art. 10, § 9, which provides: “No ad valorem tax shall be levied for State purposes, nor shall any part of the proceeds of any ad valorem tax be levied upon any kind of property in this State to be used for State purposes; * * *

The defendant has filed its answer, admitting certain allegations of the petition but denying specifically said plaintiff, Stanolind Pipe Line Company, is engaged exclusively in interstate commerce but alleging the fact to be it is engaged in intrastate as well as interstate business.

It admits that the plaintiff, since May 5, 1937, purchased and rented certain equipment and material outside of the state of Oklahoma for removal into and use in the state of Oklahoma, and that such property has already been put to use in said state by said plaintiff, but denies that said property was brought into or used within the state of Oklahoma by the plaintiff for the purpose of carrying on an exclusive interstate business.

The defendant admits that it has collected the taxes as alleged by the plaintiff; that the payment „was made by said plaintiff under protest; and that the defendant was notified in writing by the plaintiff of its intention to file a suit for the recovery thereof within thirty days after said payment.

The defendant specifically denies the taxes assessed are ad valorem taxes and therefore in violation of the Constitution of the state of Oklahoma prohibiting the levy of an ad valorem tax for state purposes, but alleges that said taxes are excise taxes levied upon the use of said property in this state upon its arrival and after interstate commerce has ceased and the property has come to rest in said state.

It furthermore denies that the taxes assessed against the plaintiff are in violation of its rights under the commerce clause and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The parties have stipulated the facts in this case as follows:

“That the plaintiff, Stanolind Pipe Line Company, owns, maintains and operates a pipe line and pipe line system extending from the State of Texas northward through the State of Oklahoma and other states, to the State of Indiana; that it receives deliveries of oil from connections in Oklahoma for delivery to points outside of the State of Oklahoma, and the business of the plaintiff in connection with its pipe line operations is exclusively interstate commerce.

“That the articles of tangible personal property consisting of pipe, machinery, repair parts and other items of tangible personal property for the maintenance and upkeep of its pipe line system were purchased without the State of Oklahoma and imported into the State of Oklahoma to fulfill specific orders for the repair and maintenance of its interstate pipe line system in Oklahoma, and said articles were installed as quickly as possible after the arrival into this State.

“That the Oklahoma Tax Commission in its regulations adopted in connection with the Use Tax Law in controversy in this cause, defines the term ‘use’ as follows :

[133]*133“ ‘THe term “Use” as it appears in the Use Tax Act is hereby defined to be and mean:

“ ‘The employment of an article of tangible personal property for the accomplishment' of a purpose; to make use of; to treat; to convert to one’s service; to avail oneself of; to employ for the attainment of some purpose or end.’ ”

There has been no. construction placed upon the act in question either by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma or by the Federal Courts.

The plaintiff relies upon the construction placed upon a similar statute by the Supreme Court of the state of Washington, 195 Wash. 553, 81 P.2d 786, which was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States and on which certiorari was denied, 306 U.S. 637, 59 S.Ct. 483, 83 L.Ed. 1038.

The defendant relies strongly upon certain decisions of the Supreme Court of the-United States construing the California statute.

It therefore becomes necessary to analyze the statutes in question and the court decisions construing said statutes.

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Related

Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Stanolind Pipe Line Co.
113 F.2d 853 (Tenth Circuit, 1940)

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Bluebook (online)
30 F. Supp. 131, 1939 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stanolind-pipe-line-co-v-oklahoma-tax-commission-okwd-1939.