Aloha Airlines, Inc v. Director of Taxation of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines, Inc v. Director of Taxation of Hawaii

• Decision Date: 01 November 1983
• Docket Number: Nos. 82-585,82-586,s. 82-585
• Citation: 104 S.Ct. 291,78 L.Ed.2d 10,464 U.S. 7
• Parties: ALOHA AIRLINES, INC., Appellant v. DIRECTOR OF TAXATION OF HAWAII. HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC., Appellant v. DIRECTOR OF TAXATION OF HAWAII
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

464 U.S. 7

104 S.Ct. 291

78 L.Ed.2d 10

ALOHA AIRLINES, INC., Appellant

v DIRECTOR OF TAXATION OF HAWAII.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES, INC., Appellant

v. DIRECTOR OF TAXATION OF HAWAII.

Nos. 82-585, 82-586.

Argued Oct. 4, 1983.

Decided Nov. 1, 1983.

Syllabus

A Hawaii statute imposes a tax on the annual gross income of airlines operating within the State, and declares that such tax is a means of taxing an airline's personal property. Section 7(a) of the Airport Development Acceleration Act of 1973 (ADAA) prohibits a State from levying a tax, "directly or indirectly, on persons traveling in air commerce or on the carriage of persons traveling in air commerce or on the sale of air transportation or on the gross receipts derived therefrom," but provides that property taxes are not included in this prohibition. Appellant airlines each brought an action for refund of taxes assessed under the Hawaii statute, claiming that the statute was pre-empted by § 7(a). The Hawaii Tax Appeal Court rejected this pre-emption argument, and the Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed.

Held: Section 7(a) pre-empts the Hawaii statute. Pp. 11-15.

(a) When a federal statute unambiguously forbids a State to impose a particular kind of tax on an industry affecting interstate commerce, as § 7(a) does here by its plain language, courts need not look beyond the federal statute's plain language to determine whether a state statute that imposes such a tax is pre-empted. P. 12.

(b) Moreover, nothing in the ADAA's legislative history suggests that Congress intended to limit § 7(a)'s pre-emptive effect to taxes on airlines passengers or to save gross receipts taxes such as the one Hawaii imposes. Although § 7(a) was enacted to deal primarily with local head taxes on airline passengers, the legislative history contains many references to the fact that § 7(a) pre-empts state taxes on gross receipts of airlines. Pp. 12 -13.

(c) The fact that the Hawaii tax is styled as a property tax measured by gross receipts rather than as a straightforward gross receipts tax does not entitle the tax to escape pre-emption under § 7(a)'s property tax exemption. Such styling of the tax does not mask the fact that the purpose and effect of the tax are to impose a levy upon the gross receipts of airlines, thus making it at least an "indirect" tax on such receipts. P. 13-14.

65 Haw. 1, 647 P.2d 263, reversed and remanded.

Richard L. Griffith, Honolulu, Hawaii, for appellants.

William D. Dexter, Olympia, Wash., for appellee.

Justice MARSHALL delivered the opinion of the Court.

These appeals present the question whether 49 U.S.C. § 1513(a) preempts a Hawaii statute that imposes a tax on the gross income of airlines operating within the State. We conclude that the Hawaii tax is preempted.

I

In 1970, Congress committed the federal government to assisting States and localities in expanding and improving the nation's air transportation system. See Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970, Pub.L. 91-258, 84 Stat. 219. In the same session, Congress established the Airport and Airway Trust Fund to funnel federal resources to local airport expansion and improvement projects. See Airport and Air- way Revenue Act of 1970, Pub.L. 91-258, § 208, 84 Stat. 236, 250-252. As originally devised, the Trust Fund received its revenues from several federal aviation taxes, including an 8% tax on domestic airline tickets, a $3 head tax on international flights out of the United States, and a 5% tax on air freight. See §§ 203, 204, 84 Stat. 238-240 (codified as amended, at 26 U.S.C. §§ 4261, 4271 (1976 ed. and Supp.1981)). See generally Massachusetts v. United States, 435 U.S. 444, 98 S.Ct. 1153, 55 L.Ed.2d 403 (1978).

Once the Airport and Airway Development Act was passed and the Trust Fund established, the question arose whether States and municipalities were still free to impose additional taxes on airlines and air travelers. In Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority Dist. v. Delta Airlines, 405 U.S. 707, 92 S.Ct. 1349, 31 L.Ed.2d 620 (1972), this Court ruled that neither the Commerce Clause nor the Airport and Airway Development Act precluded state or local authorities from assessing head taxes on passengers boarding flights at state or local airports. In particular the Court noted, "No federal statute or specific congressional action or declaration evidences a congressional purpose to deny or pre-empt state and local power to levy charges designed to help defray the costs of airport construction and maintenance." Id., at 721, 92 S.Ct., at 1357.

Following the Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport decision, Committees in both Houses of Congress held hearings on local taxation of air transportation.¹ Both Committees concluded that the proliferation of local taxes burdened interstate air transportation, and, when coupled with the federal Trust Fund levies, imposed double taxation on air travelers.² To deal with these problems, Congress passed § 7(a) of the Airport Development Acceleration Act of 1973 (ADAA), the provision at issue in these appeals. See Pub.L. 93-44, § 7(a), 87 Stat. 88, 90. That section, which is currently codified at 49 U.S.C. § 1513,³ reads:

"(a) No State . . . shall levy or collect a tax, fee, head charge, or other charge, directly or indirectly, on persons traveling in air commerce or on the carriage of persons traveling in air commerce or on the sale of air transportation or on the gross receipts derived therefrom. . . .

"(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a State . . . from the levy or collection of taxes other than those enumerated in subsection (a) of this section, including property taxes, net income taxes, franchise taxes, and sales or use taxes on the sale of goods or services."

For States with taxes that were in effect prior to May 21, 1970, and would be preempted by § 1513(a), Congress postponed the effective date of the section until December 31, 1973. Ibid.

II

Appellants Aloha Airlines, Inc., and Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., are both commercial airlines that carry passengers, freight, and mail among the islands of Hawaii. Throughout the periods relevant to these appeals, Appellants have been Hawaii public service companies, see Haw.Rev.Stat. §§ 239-2, 269-1 (1976 ed. and Supp.1982), and subject to the State's public service company tax, which provides:

"There shall be levied and assessed upon each airline a tax of four per cent of its gross income each year from the airline business. . . . The tax imposed by this section is a means of taxing the personal property of the airline or other carrier, tangible and intangible, including going concern value, and is in lieu of the [general excise] tax imposed by chapter 237 but is not in lieu of any other tax." § 239-6 (1976).

In 1978, Appellant Aloha Airlines sought refunds for taxes assessed under this provision for the carriage of passengers between 1974 and 1977 on the ground that 49 U.S.C. § 1513(a) had preempted Haw.Rev.Stat. § 239-6 as of December 31, 1973. In 1979, Appellant Hawaiian Airlines filed a similar action seeking a refund for taxes paid between 1974 and 1978. In separate decisions, the Tax Appeal Court of the State of Hawaii rejected Appellants' preemption arguments, In re Aloha Airlines, Inc., No. 1772 (Haw.Ct.Tax App.1978); In re Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., Nos. 1853, 1868 (Haw.Ct.Tax App.1980). On consolidated appeal, the Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed, one Justice dissenting, In re Aloha Airlines, Inc., 65 Haw. 1, 647 P.2d 263 (1982). Appellants then filed timely notices of appeal, this Court noted probable jurisdiction, 459 U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 721, 74 L.Ed.2d 948 (1983), and we now reverse.

III

The plain language of 49 U.S.C. § 1513(a) would appear to invalidate Haw.Rev.Stat. § 239-6. § 1513(a) expressly preempts gross receipts taxes on the sale of air transportation or the carriage of persons traveling in air commerce, and Haw.Rev.Stat. § 239-6 is a state tax on the gross receipts ⁴ of airlines selling air transportation and carrying persons traveling in air commerce. The Hawaii Supreme Court sought to avoid this direct conflict by looking beyond the language of § 1513(a) to Congress's purpose in enacting the statute. The Court concluded that Congress passed the ADAA to deal with the proliferation of local and state head taxes on airline passengers in the early 1970's. Since Haw.Rev.Stat. § 239-6 is imposed upon air carriers as opposed to air travelers, the Hawaii Court reasoned that the provision did not come within the ambit of § 1513(a)'s prohibitions.

We cannot agree with the Hawaii Supreme Court's analysis. First, when a federal statute unambiguously forbids the States to impose a particular kind of tax on an industry affecting interstate commerce, courts need not look beyond the plain language of the federal statute to determine whether a state statute that imposes such a tax is preempted.⁵ Thus, the Hawaii Supreme Court erred in failing to give effect to the plain meaning of § 1513(a).⁶

Second, even if the absence of an express proscription made it necessary to go beyond the plain language of § 1513(a) nothing in the legislative history of the ADAA suggests that Congress intended to limit § 1513(a)'s preemptive effect to taxes on airline passengers or to save gross receipts taxes like § 239-6.⁷ Although Congress passed § 1513(a) to deal primarily with local head taxes on airline passengers, the legislative history abounds with references to the fact that § 1513(a) also preempts state taxes on the gross receipts of airlines.⁸ For example, Senator Cannon, one of the ADAA's sponsors, clearly stated in floor debate: "The bill prohibits the levying of State or local head taxes, fees, gross receipts taxes or other such charges either on passengers or on the carriage of such passengers in interstate commerce." 119 Cong.Rec. 3349 (1973).

Finally, we are unpersuaded by Appellee's contention that, because the Hawaii legislature styled § 239-6 as a property tax measured by gross receipts...