Tuition Plan of New Hampshire v. Director, Division of Taxation

4 N.J. Tax 470
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedJuly 28, 1982
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 4 N.J. Tax 470 (Tuition Plan of New Hampshire v. Director, Division of Taxation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tuition Plan of New Hampshire v. Director, Division of Taxation, 4 N.J. Tax 470 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1982).

Opinion

CRABTREE, J. T. C.

Plaintiff seeks review of defendant’s determination that plaintiff is subject to the New Jersey Corporation Income Tax Act, N.J.S.A. 54:10E-1 et seq. for the calendar years 1974 through 1977. The determination is based upon income attributable to loans made by plaintiff to New Jersey residents. Plaintiff claims that the determination and any tax assessed pursuant thereto violate the Due Process and Commerce Clauses of the United States Constitution, as plaintiff is engaged solely in interstate commerce with no contacts with the State of New Jersey.

The facts are fully stipulated pursuant to R. 8:8-l(b).

Plaintiff is a New Hampshire corporation with its one and only office located in Concord, New Hampshire. Plaintiff files its New Hampshire corporate income tax return on a calendar year basis. It filed its 1974 return on or about June 9, 1975, having obtained an extension of time to do so.

Plaintiff’s sole activity is making unsecured tuition loans to parents of students enrolled in private secondary schools and private and public colleges both within and without the State of New Jersey. Some of the loans are made to parents who are New Jersey residents. Plaintiff’s income is solely derived from the financing charges it receives from tuition loans. Plaintiff estimates that the principal amount of outstanding loans to New Jersey borrowers during the years in issue ranged from $1,700,-000 to $2,150,000.

Plaintiff prepares brochures describing its loan program and those brochures are either mailed directly by plaintiff from its New Hampshire office or by the educational institution involved. Upon receipt of the descriptive brochure the putative borrower completes an application and mails it to plaintiff in New Hampshire, whereupon plaintiff mails an educational loan agreement and credit application to the prospective borrower. The latter signs the agreement, completes the credit application and mails both documents to plaintiff’s New Hampshire office.

[475]*475Following a credit inquiry, conducted wholly outside the State of New Jersey, the approved borrower is notified of acceptance and is furnished a coupon book with which to make payments. All funds representing loan proceeds are disbursed by mail from plaintiff’s New Hampshire office to the borrower, who remits loan payments monthly by mail to plaintiff in New Hampshire. Sales and clerical personnel located in Concord, New Hampshire, may also accept telephone applications from borrowers who wish to add to their existing loans.

If plaintiff does not receive a borrower’s monthly payment within ten days after its due date, plaintiff mails a written notice to the delinquent debtor from plaintiff’s New Hampshire office. Further delays in payment are followed by telephone calls and more delinquency notices until the delinquent account is referred (in the case of a New Jersey borrower) to an Irvington, New Jersey, law firm for institution of legal action to effectuate collection. During the years 1975, 1976 and 1977 plaintiff instituted ten collection suits in New Jersey to recover aggregate delinquencies of approximately $13,000.

All plaintiff’s loans are unsecured. It never took a wage assignment from a New Jersey borrower.

Beginning in 1977 plaintiff offered a budgeted monthly prepayment plan. Under this plan no loan is made but parents commence payments to plaintiff before a student starts school. Plaintiff handles payment to the educational institution when fees are due.

Plaintiff employs seven district sales managers, who call upon school administrators and financial officers to describe the availability of plaintiff’s services. It is through the contact of these managers with school officials that plaintiff obtains the names and addresses of prospective borrowers, i.e., parents of the students.

Each district manager has an associate list of schools and a prospect list of schools. The associate list is comprised of schools from which plaintiff has obtained a mailing list of the students’ parents, to whom plaintiff (or the school) mails plaintiff’s bro[476]*476chures. The prospect list consists of schools which plaintiff attempts to interest in its loan program. Plaintiff furnishes a prospect list to each district manager, who is free to make contact with any school or college in his area in order to generate interest in plaintiff’s loan program. However, plaintiff’s management at its New Hampshire headquarters decides whether any particular prospect school has the loan potential to warrant further business promotion by the district manager.

During the years under review John F. Southwood, Jr. and John Kelly were the only district managers whose respective districts included New Jersey. Southwood lives in Maryland, Kelly lives in New York. Neither of them has an office. Plaintiff’s Concord, New Hampshire, office is shown on their business cards as their business address. Southwood covered southern New Jersey (from Princeton southward), while Kelly was responsible for Northern and Central New Jersey. South-wood’s territory embraced several other states, including Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Kelly was also assigned to New York City, Long Island and all of the New York counties abutting the Hudson River north to Poughkeepsie, and all of Connecticut. During the years in issue Southwood was responsible for 145 associate schools and 146 prospect schools in 1974 and 1975, and 212 associate schools and 179 prospect schools in 1976 and 1977. The New Jersey representation in these totals was seven associates and seven prospects in all years in issue. Kelly’s list of associates ranged from 106 in 1974 and 1975 to 119 in 1976 and 1977; his prospect list numbered 158 in 1974 and 1975 and 169 in 1976 and 1977. The New Jersey representation was 12 associates and 28 prospects in 1974 and 1975 and 13 associates and 32 prospects in 1976 and 1977. Kelly estimates that he spent approximately 15% to 20% of his time in New Jersey from September through June of each year. Southwood estimates that he spent 3% to 5% of his time in New Jersey during the same time span.

The duties and responsibilities of Kelly and Southwood are the same as those of plaintiff’s other district managers throughout the United States. District managers are salaried employees, [477]*477not commission salesmen. They meet at a school with a school administrator, financial officer or business manager. The district manager visits an associate school at least annually to explain changes in plaintiff’s brochures, to arrange for printing of plaintiff’s materials and to answer any questions that may arise during the year. Schools on the prospect list are also visited annually.

The district manager does no mailing. When he visits a school he brings a file consisting of a Printing Order Information Form and Tuition Plan Prepayment Program, with specific reference to the school, some Tuition Plan brochures, and sales aids including statistics and information dealing with trends in education costs and enrollments.

The district manager also attends financial aid conferences and meetings. He never communicates with a borrower or student; he never addresses parent groups, and no borrower or student ever communicates with a district manager.

Plaintiff reimburses the district manager for all his expenses incurred in connection with plaintiff’s business.

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Bluebook (online)
4 N.J. Tax 470, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuition-plan-of-new-hampshire-v-director-division-of-taxation-njtaxct-1982.