Wanda Marine Corp. v. STATE, DEPT. OF REVENUE

305 So. 2d 65, 1974 Fla. App. LEXIS 7384
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedNovember 21, 1974
DocketV-13
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 305 So. 2d 65 (Wanda Marine Corp. v. STATE, DEPT. OF REVENUE) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wanda Marine Corp. v. STATE, DEPT. OF REVENUE, 305 So. 2d 65, 1974 Fla. App. LEXIS 7384 (Fla. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

305 So.2d 65 (1974)

WANDA MARINE CORPORATION, a Delaware Corporation, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, Appellee.

No. V-13.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

November 21, 1974.
Rehearing Denied January 15, 1975.

*66 Allan L. Hoffman, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Robert L. Shevin, Atty. Gen., and J. Kendrick Tucker, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

MASON, Associate Judge.

This is an appeal from a final judgment of the Circuit Court of Leon County upholding the decision of the Department of Revenue of the State of Florida which held that a certain yacht owned by the appellant corporation and which had been imported into Florida from Holland was subject to the use tax imposed by the Department of Revenue under the provisions of Chapter 212, F.S. The facts essential for the resolution of the issues before this *67 Court, viz: whether the yacht in question was subject to the tax imposed and, if so, whether the notice of the tax assessment was sufficient, are as follows:

The yacht is the only asset owned by appellant corporation. The corporation is a Delaware Corporation incorporated in February, 1970. It is a closed corporation controlled completely by one John Leopold, a resident of Florida, its president, with its business office in Wilmington, Delaware. The boat was purchased, as evidenced by a bill of sale to the corporation, on November 10, 1970, Leopold claimed that it was purchased in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, as an investment for potential capital gains. He testified that the purchase price was paid and the boat physically delivered on August 1, 1970, for testing and trials, and that it was insured by appellant at that time for the amount of the purchase price of $320,000. But he also testified at the final hearing before the trial court that between the date of delivery of the boat to the corporation and the delivery of the bill of sale the corporation was testing it out and "using it for pleasure and satisfaction until we would accept it." He also testified that there was no written contract to sell and buy between the seller and the corporation prior to delivery of the bill of sale, that "we didn't have to accept the boat if it had some flaws in it", and that had the boat sunk or been destroyed before delivery of bill of sale the insurance company which had insured the boat at the cost of appellant corporation would have reimbursed the corporation for the $320,000 purchase price. The seller was also a co-insured under the policy. The boat was used by appellant in European waters prior to and after delivery of bill of sale, from about August 1, 1970, until it was shipped by freighter to Miami, Florida, arriving there on February 28, 1971 — a period of more than seven months.

The boat was docked at Leopold's home, after arriving in the State of Florida, until the end of May, 1971, at which latter time it left the State for an extended cruise. It returned to Florida in November, 1971, and remained in the State off and on during the winter season until the end of April, 1972. During the time the boat was in Florida, upon occasions it was taken to the Bahamas for short cruises. The Department of Revenue assessed the tax in question upon the yacht on April 20, 1972.

On at least one occasion Leopold loaned the boat to others for the use of which he was paid $500. He allowed his friends to use it at other times without payment of fees. He also used it himself on occasions for pleasure. He testified that at no time was the boat rented or leased for profit, nor was it purchased specifically for use in the State of Florida.

Based upon these facts the trial court held that the boat was properly assessed a use tax, that it was not exempt from such tax and that proper notice of the assessment had been given the appellant. Appellant contends that the boat was exempt from the use tax assessment under the specific provision of Section 212.06(8), F.S., and that the Department of Revenue's assessment was invalid for that reason. It, therefore, argues that the trial court's conclusion that the boat was not exempt from the tax assessment was erroneous. It also contends that the notice of assessment of the tax was invalid, and that for such additional reason the trial court should be reversed.

The correct resolution of the two issues before us require our construction and interpretation of several sections and subsections of Chapter 212, F.S. This chapter is commonly known as the "Florida Revenue Act of 1949," and is by nature a transaction tax statute. Generally speaking, it places a four per cent tax measured by the value of the property involved upon all transactions in which tangible personal property is the subject, upon admissions to certain classes of entertainment, upon the rentals of certain classes of rental property and upon certain services rendered.

*68 Section 212.05 which makes provision for the imposition of the tax in question is as follows:

"212.05. Sales, storage, use tax. — It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in this state, or who rents or furnishes any of the things or services taxable under this chapter, or who stores for use or consumption in this state any item or article of tangible personal property as defined herein and who leases or rents such property within the state. For the exercise of said privilege a tax is levied on each taxable transaction or incident and shall be due and payable, according to the brackets set forth in 212.12(10), as follows: ... .
(2) At the rate of four per cent of the cost price of each item or article of tangible personal property when the same is not sold but is used, consumed, distributed or stored for use or consumption in this state. (Underscoring ours)

The boat was not sold at retail within the State of Florida and, therefore, was not subject to the retail sales tax imposed by statute. The question then is, was it stored or used within the State under such conditions as to make it subject to the use tax imposed by subsection (2) of Section 212.05, supra. Under Section 212.02, Definitions, the term "storage" is defined as "any keeping or retention in this state of tangible personal property for use or consumption in this state, or for any purpose other than sale at retail in the regular course of business." (Section 212.02(7)). In subsection 212.02(8) the term "use" is declared to mean and to include "the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to the ownership thereof, or interest therein, except that it shall not include the sale at retail of that property in the regular course of business."

Our Supreme Court in United States Gypsum Company v. Green, 110 So.2d 409, decided in 1959, stated that the primary function of the use tax imposed by this statute is to complement the sales tax so imposed so as to make uniform the taxation of property subject to the tax, whether produced, purchased and used in this State or produced and purchased in another state or country, but used in this state. And in Green v. Pederson, Fla., 99 So.2d 292, decided in 1957, that Court held that the use tax imposed by this statute is to be levied upon the use of out-of-state purchases in the same manner and upon the same tangible personal property as is the sales tax on intrastate purchases.

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Ago
Florida Attorney General Reports, 1976

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