Westinghouse Beverage Group, Inc. v. Department of Taxation

698 P.2d 866, 101 Nev. 184, 1985 Nev. LEXIS 393
CourtNevada Supreme Court
DecidedApril 25, 1985
DocketNo. 15582
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 698 P.2d 866 (Westinghouse Beverage Group, Inc. v. Department of Taxation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nevada Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westinghouse Beverage Group, Inc. v. Department of Taxation, 698 P.2d 866, 101 Nev. 184, 1985 Nev. LEXIS 393 (Neb. 1985).

Opinion

[186]*186OPINION

By the Court,

Springer, C. J.:

Chapter 369A, Nevada Revised Statutes, imposes a tax on the privilege of importing for sale at retail or selling at wholesale soft drinks or syrups and powders used to make soft drinks.1 Sixteen corporations which sell soft drinks or soft drink syrups at wholesale in Nevada have challenged the constitutionality of the statute in a declaratory judgment action. The trial court found the statute to be constitutional, and the corporations have appealed. The trial court’s judgment is affirmed.

1. Statutory Vagueness.

The corporations claim that the statute is too vague because it fails to identify what is being taxed or who is required to pay the tax.

The taxable commodity is soft drinks or their precursors. Counsel for the corporations expresses no difficulty on the part of his wholesalers in understanding what a soft drink is or what [187]*187“syrups and powders used to make soft drinks” are. Neither do we.

In State of Nevada v. Glusman, 98 Nev. 412, 651 P.2d 639 (1982), appeal dismissed, 459 U.S. 1192 (1983), this court directed its attention to a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute based on a charge of vagueness. In Glusman we held:

The criterion under which we examine the assertion of vagueness is whether the statute “either forbids or requires the doing of any act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application. ...” Connally v. General Construction Co., 269 U.S. 385 (1926) cited by this Court in In re Laiolo, 83 Nev. 186, 426 P.2d 726 (1967). Equally important in a facial challenge for vagueness is whether the statute impinges upon First Amendment freedoms. If not, a statute may be stricken as unconstitutionally vague only if it is found to be so “in all of its applications.” Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, 455 U.S. 489, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (1982). Further, our standard of review is less strict under a challenge for vagueness where the statute is directed at economic regulations.

98 Nev. at 420-21.

The statute in question here involves economic considerations and not first amendment freedoms; consequently, the statute may be stricken as unconstitutionally vague only if it is found to be so in all of its applications. Such cannot be said of this statute, particularly because the corporations do not argue that the statutory definitions are vague as to them or that they do not understand the statutory language; rather, they argue that under certain circumstances other soft drink wholesalers might find the statute to be unconstitutionally vague. One who is not prejudiced by the operation of a statute cannot question its validity. Spears v. Spears, 95 Nev. 416, 418, 596 P.2d 210, 212 (1979). Even where we reach the constitutional issue, we arc bound by the presumption that legislative enactments are valid unless the contrary is clearly established. Allen v. State of Nev., Pub. Emp. Ret. Bd., 100 Nev. 130, 133, 676 P.2d 792, 794 (1984); List v. Whisler, 99 Nev. 133, 137, 660 P.2d 104, 106 (1983). This court does not consider it proper to “enter into a determination of the constitutionality of [a] statute on a supposed or hypothetical case which might arise thereunder.” Magee v. Whitacre, 60 Nev. 208, 212, 106 P.2d 751, 752 (1940) (opinion on the merits). As to appellant corporations it is quite clear just what is subject to the lax.

The additional claim that the statute does not clearly identify [188]*188who is to pay the tax is without merit. The tax must be paid, as stated in the statute, by the wholesale dealer upon sales of soft drinks, syrups, and powders. There is nothing vague about this.

2. Due Process of Law.

The corporations claim that non-Nevada wholesalers are unjustly subjected to taxation by this statute “without a sound constitutional basis for doing so.” The claim is that wholesale dealers who lack any demonstrable nexus with Nevada cannot be taxed. This is, of course, true; and we have so held in State, Nev. Tax Comm’n v. Obexer & Son, 99 Nev. 233, 236-37, 660 P.2d 981, 984 (1983). “To impose liability for the collection of a use tax on an out-of-state seller, there must be a constitutionally sufficient relationship or ‘nexus’ between the seller and the taxing state, such as the maintenance by the seller of offices, agents, salespersons, or property in the state.” 99 Nev. at 237. It is entirely possible that one or more of the corporations which brought this suit do not have a constitutionally sufficient relationship or nexus between the corporation and this state to justify its being taxed; but such a claim is not pleaded in the complaint for declaratory relief, and there is nothing in the record to show that the trial court erred in upholding the constitutionality of this statute with regard to any of the named corporate complainants.

3. Discrimination Against Interstate Commerce.

NRS 369A.080(4) contains an anomolous provision, which, for reasons that are unclear to us, makes it a misdemeanor for a retail dealer to import from an unlicensed wholesaler; whereas it does not make it criminal for a retail dealer simply to purchase from an unlicensed wholesaler. Such a provision enables a retailer to purchase from a local wholesaler without threat of criminal action while risking prosecution when importing soft drinks from an out-of-state wholesaler.

This provision does not directly discriminate against out-of-state vendors, but it can be argued, as the corporations do, that imposing criminal sanctions on retailers for importing from unlicensed out-of-state wholesalers but not for purchasing from unlicensed in-state wholesalers might induce retailers to opt for the safety of restricting their purchases to in-state wholesalers. Credence is given to this argument by the state when it argues that the purpose of the statute is to encourage retail dealers to buy only from licensed in-state wholesalers.

The burden of proving the unconstitutionality of a statute is upon the person attacking that statute. Allen v. State of Nev., Pub. Emp. Ret. Bd., 100 Nev. 130, 676 P.2d 792 (1984); List v. [189]*189Whisler, 99 Nev. 133, 660 P.2d 104 (1983). The question, of course, is whether the penal statute encourages retailers to deal with in-state vendors instead of out-of-state vendors so as to avoid the risk of possible criminal prosecution.

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Bluebook (online)
698 P.2d 866, 101 Nev. 184, 1985 Nev. LEXIS 393, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westinghouse-beverage-group-inc-v-department-of-taxation-nev-1985.