State v. Northwestern States Portland Cement Co.

84 N.W.2d 373, 250 Minn. 32, 1957 Minn. LEXIS 611
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 14, 1957
Docket36,826
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 84 N.W.2d 373 (State v. Northwestern States Portland Cement Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Northwestern States Portland Cement Co., 84 N.W.2d 373, 250 Minn. 32, 1957 Minn. LEXIS 611 (Mich. 1957).

Opinions

[34]*34Matson, Justice.

Defendant taxpayer, a foreign corporation engaged exclusively in interstate commerce, appeals from a judgment in a proceeding by the State of Minnesota to collect income taxes — together with penalties and interest — upon that portion of the taxpayer’s total net income which is allocable to Minnesota. The allocated tax relates to income derived solely from interstate commerce business conducted in this state.1

Three questions are presented on appeal:

(1) Does the taxpayer have sufficient contact with the State of Minnesota to make it amenable to service of process and subject to the jurisdiction of the Minnesota courts?

(2) Is M. S. A. 290.03 in conflict with, and thus invalid and void under, the due process clause of U. S. Const. Amend. XIV, and Minn. Const, art. 1, § 7, insofar as it imposes a tax on that portion of the net income of a foreign corporation arising out of sales assignable to and activities conducted within Minnesota?2

[35]*35(3) Is § 290.03 in conflict with, and thus invalid and void under, the commerce clause, U. S. Const, art. I, § 8, clause 3, insofar as it imposes a tax on that portion allocable to the taxing state of the net income of a foreign corporation whose business within the taxing state consists exclusively of interstate commerce?3

Taxpayer is an Iowa corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of cement; its principal office and place of business is at Mason City, Iowa. Although the taxpayer maintains an office in Minneapolis and employs several representatives within the state who regularly and systematically solicit orders for the taxpayer’s product, the taxpayer has never qualified under M. S. A. 303.03 as a foreign corporation authorized to transact business within this state.

Although in the course of its business in interstate commerce the taxpayer has for over 30 years systematically marketed a substantial part of its products in Minnesota, it has never filed income tax returns in this state. On refusal of the taxpayer to file income tax returns for the fiscal years 1933 through 1948 as required under § 290.03, the commissioner of taxation prepared returns on the basis of the best information available to him, filed these returns for the taxpayer, and assessed against the taxpayer the income taxes shown to be due by the returns. In the preparation of the returns, the commissioner used the three-factor formula prescribed by § 290.19 to determine what portion of the taxpayer’s total net income should be allocated to Minnesota and subjected to the income tax imposed by this state. The following application of the formula defines each of the three factors and illustrates [36]*36the result of their employment in determining the portion of the taxpayer’s net income allocable to Minnesota for the year ending November 30, 1948:

(1) The ratio of the taxpayer’s sales assignable to Minnesota to its total sales for the year wherever made 48.4493 percent
(2) The ratio of the taxpayer’s total tangible property in Minnesota to its total tangible property used in the business that year wherever situated .1142 percent
(3) The ratio of the taxpayer’s total payroll in Minnesota to its total payroll for the entire business 1.6484 percent
Total 50.2119 percent
Arithmetical Average 16.7373 percent

The percentages for the three factors were added together for a total of 50.2119 percent and then divided by 3 to give the final arithmetical average of 16.7373 percent which represents the percentage of taxpayer’s income allocable to Minnesota for the 1948 fiscal year.4 The average percentage when applied to taxpayer’s 1948 total net income of $852,897.74 — after first deducting therefrom $12,667.57 for non-apportionable income arising from interest and rents derived from property located outside Minnesota — shows for that year as apportionable to Minnesota a taxable net income of $140,631.84. Upon this latter sum of income, which is allocated to Minnesota pursuant to the three-factor formula, the commissioner assessed a tax of $8,370.53 plus certain penalties and interest. Total taxes, penalties, and interest assessed for the fiscal years 1933 to 1948 are $102,536.82.

[37]*37I

Was Taxpayer Amenable to Jurisdiction of Minnesota Court?

We turn to the first issue to ascertain whether the taxpayer was juridically present in this state as to be amenable to the jurisdiction of our courts. Whether a foreign corporation domiciled in another state is jurisdictionally present so as to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Minnesota courts depends in each case upon the quality and nature of the activities which it carries on within our state.5 What activity or combination of activities are necessary to constitute jurisdictional presence6 of a foreign corporation domiciled elsewhere, in order to comply with the due process clause of Amend. XIV, cannot be summarized so as to provide an arbitrary test for all cases. Each case must be determined on its own peculiar facts to ascertain whether the corporation has carried on activities of such a quality and nature that it can be said that it has, as a matter of due process, established contacts, ties, or relations within the forum which give rise to privileges and obligations which reasonably obligate it to respond to any suit brought within the forum.

Whether regular and systematic solicitation of business within the state — which results in a continuous flow of the corporation’s products into the state through the channels of interstate commerce — alone and of itself — constitutes jurisdictional presence we need not here determine. It is clear, in any event, however, that such regular and systematic solicitation, when corroborated by other and additional corporate acts or manifestations within the forum, does establish jurisdictional presence in compliance with the requirements of the due process clause. We need not here attempt to define what other [38]*38acts are sufficient to furnish corroboration since in the present case the corroborative acts are both abundant and jurisdictionally significant. The taxpayer herein not only has regularly and systematically solicited business which has brought through the channels of interstate commerce a continuous flow into this state of its products, but as a further indication of its presence it has systematically carried on many additional activities and services which are summarized in the following four paragraphs.

Factual Summary of Taxpayer’s Activities in Minnesota

We turn to the facts as found by the trial court and as sustained by the evidence. For the convenience of its salesmen and customers, the taxpayer rents and maintains in Minneapolis an office which is used to some extent as a central office and serves as a clearinghouse for orders and complaints. A full-time secretary is employed in this office; two telephone lines are maintained; and it is listed in both telephone (alphabetical and classified indexes) and city directories. One of the district representatives is in charge of this office and, with the taxpayer’s knowledge, holds himself out as district manager.

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Related

Louis N. Kitten & Co. v. Commissioner of Revenue
319 N.W.2d 421 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1982)
Grain Belt Breweries, Inc. v. Commissioner of Taxation
243 N.W.2d 322 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1976)
McMenomy v. Wonder Building Corporation of America
188 F. Supp. 213 (D. Minnesota, 1960)
State v. Northwestern States Portland Cement Co.
103 N.W.2d 225 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1960)
Commonwealth v. Eastern Motor Express, Inc.
157 A.2d 79 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1959)
Beck v. Spindler
99 N.W.2d 670 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1959)
ET & WNC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY v. Currie
104 S.E.2d 403 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1958)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
84 N.W.2d 373, 250 Minn. 32, 1957 Minn. LEXIS 611, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-northwestern-states-portland-cement-co-minn-1957.