Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Porterfield

261 N.E.2d 272, 23 Ohio St. 2d 50, 52 Ohio Op. 2d 173, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 371
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 5, 1970
DocketNo. 69-300
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 261 N.E.2d 272 (Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Porterfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Porterfield, 261 N.E.2d 272, 23 Ohio St. 2d 50, 52 Ohio Op. 2d 173, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 371 (Ohio 1970).

Opinion

Schneidee, J.

Appellee, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, in filing its franchise tax returns for each of the years 1960 to 1964, inclusive, allocated only its sales of goods and services to the “business done” fraction provided by R. C. 5733.05, and paid its corporate franchise taxes accordingly.

On June 7, 1966, Westinghouse filed applications for refund for each of those tax years, claiming that annual dividends, interest, rents and royalties received by it, as well as its annual gross receipts from sales and dispositions of tangible property (other than goods manufactured by it) [51]*51and of securities owned by it should also be considered “business done,” within the meaning of E. C. 5733.05 and Eule 275 of the Tax Commissioner, and business “activities” as contemplated by Eule 276 of the Tax Commissioner. The Tax Commissioner denied the refunds. Upon appeal, the Board of Tax Appeals reversed and allowed the same. The Tax Commissioner now appeals to this, court.

No legislation other than the so-called “business fraction” of the franchise tax computation is involved. Former E. C. 5733.05 (126 Ohio Laws 747), set forth the language applicable as “a fraction whose numerator is the value of the business done by the corporation in this state during the year preceding the date of the commencement of its current annual accounting period, and whose denominator is the total value of its business during said year wherever transacted.”

Inasmuch as “value of the business done” is nowhere defined or explained in E. C. 5733.01 et seq., the Tax Commissioner adopted Eules 275 and 276 to supply the deficiency.1 They were in effect during the tax years in question, and read in full as follows:

Eule 275. “Business done in and out of Ohio by corporations subject to the payment of franchise taxes shall be determined under Section 5733.05, Eevised Code, by allocating to the business fraction, therein provided, sales in and out of Ohio.
“All sales of goods from warehouses in Ohio, where-ever manufactured, shall be considered as Ohio sales.
[52]*52“In the case of manufacturing companies, all sales of goods manufactured in Ohio, wherever sold, shall be considered as Ohio sales, except sales of such products as are sold from warehouses outside of this state.
‘ ‘ The denominator of such business fraction shall in all cases be the total sales wherever made.”
Rule 276. “Corporations, whose business does not consist in the making of sales and to which Rule 275 cannot apply but which business consists in such activities as receiving commissions, rents, interest, dividends, fees, etc., shall be determined by allocating such business activities in and out of Ohio according to their situs.”

One of the Westinghouse exhibits in the record illustrates precisely the question involved. The following columns therefrom are shown for the tax year 1962 only, for the reason that the bulk of the testimony in the case was directed to that year as a typical example:

Westinghouse Electric Corporation Ohio Franchise Tax
Business Done In and Out of Ohio 1960 through 1964.
Ohio Franchise Tax Year 1962
Calendar Year 1961
Receipts From: Ohio Total
1. Sales of Goods and Services $187,014,125 $1,830,990,049
2. Dividends 5,093,944
3. Interest 10,774,818
4. Rents 10,760 66,631
5. Royalties 10,245,612
6. Sales & Dispositions of Tangible Property 53,955 1,915,245
7. Sales & Dispositions of Securities 604,111,277
Totals $187,078,840 $2,463,197,576

With reference to Item 1 on the above table, we immediately note that it is entitled “Sales of Goods and [53]*53Services.” (Emphasis supplied.) The totals shown opposite that item represent unchallenged figures which Westinghouse used to compute its original franchise tax and represent the starting point for its claimed refunds. We note also that the record contains several other unchallenged references to those totals as containing receipts from sales of goods as well as receipts from services rendered by Westinghouse.

It appears to us, then, that Westinghouse’s emphatically repeated contention that the proper question in this case is whether the Tax Commissioner was correct in treating his Rules 275 and 276 as mutually exclusive is completely answered by the fact that he did apply a combination of formulas contained in both rules to Westinghouse as to Item 1 activities.

Rule 275 comprehends solely tangible goods sold from inventory, whether or not manufactured by the taxpayer. On the other hand, Rule 276 contemplates receipts from “commissions” and “fees,” of which “services” is an equivalent.

Having applied both rules to Item 1 activities, the Tax Commissioner should not be permitted to exclude the activities represented by Item 2 (gross receipts from dividends from permanent investments in subsidiaries and licensees), Item 3 (gross receipts from interest from the securities involved in Item 7 as well as from advances and loans to subsidiaries, licensees and customers), Item 4 (gross receipts from rents from real estate held throughout its territory of operations) and Item 5 (gross receipts from royalties on patents and licensing agreements to various other entities). Surely, all of these items are expressly or impliedly contemplated by Rule 276. The Board of Tax Appeals was therefore correct in deciding for Westinghouse as to such items, although not for the reasons set forth in its written decision.

It does not follow, however, from the conclusion that provisions of both rules are applicable to the instant facts to the extent of Items 1 through 5, that either sales and [54]*54dispositions of tangible property (Item 6) or sales and dispositions of securities (Item 7) should be included in the fraction as representative of the “value of the business done” by Westinghouse.

The taxpayer has not attempted to justify a construction of the literal terms of either rule so as to include either of those items. On the other hand, the Tax Commissioner has not attempted to furnish a clue as to why they should not be considered so included. The question, however, loses none of its relevancy by the mere failure of either party to answer it or to assist us in its solution.

It seems eminently clear that the phrase, “such activities as receiving commissions, rents, interest, dividends, fees, etc.,” contemplates the named activities and like activities whereby proceeds are received from the use of labor or property. But, that language leaves no room for the inclusion of gross receipts collected from the disposition of capital items such as are represented by Items 6 and 7.

Parenthetically, it should be noted that the Tax Commissioner does not concede that only gross profits, as distinguished from gross receipts,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cleveland Metro. Bar Assn. v. Morton (Slip Opinion)
2021 Ohio 4095 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2021)
Diamond Financial Holdings, Inc. v. Limbach
1993 Ohio 4 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1993)
Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Lindley
436 N.E.2d 220 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1982)
Gulf Oil Corp. v. Kosydar
339 N.E.2d 820 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1975)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
261 N.E.2d 272, 23 Ohio St. 2d 50, 52 Ohio Op. 2d 173, 1970 Ohio LEXIS 371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westinghouse-electric-corp-v-porterfield-ohio-1970.