Altitude Oil Co. v. People
| Decision Date | 07 November 1921 |
| Docket Number | 10063. |
| Citation | 70 Colo. 452,202 P. 180 |
| Parties | ALTITUDE OIL CO. v. PEOPLE. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Dec. 5, 1921.
Error to District Court, City and County of Denver; Charles C Butler, Judge.
Action by the People of the State of Colorado against the Altitude Oil Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error.
Affirmed.
Thomas H. Gibson, of Denver, for plaintiff in error.
Victor E. Keyes, Atty. Gen., and J. J. Laton, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen for the People.
Milton Smith, Charles R. Brock, and W. H. Ferguson, all of Denver amici curiae.
Chapter 168 of the Session Laws of 1919 imposes a tax on various products of petroleum 'offered for sale or used for consumption for power purposes in propelling motor vehicles.' It further provides that the sums collected under the act shall be placed in a special road fund, and apportioned among the several counties of the state.
Action was brought in behalf of the people against the plaintiff in error to recover a considerable sum which it was alleged had been collected by the defendant under said act. A demurrer to the complaint was overruled. Defendant elected to stand upon the demurrer, and judgment was entered against it for something over $9,000. The cause is now here on error.
It is contended, first, that the act is void because in contravention of section 3 of article 10 of the Constitution which requires that all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects, etc.
This tax, it is said, is a property tax. levied without any respect to the valuation of the property, and hence not uniform. The act levies a tax upon 'each gallon of kerosene, gasoline, and any fluid or substance which is a product of petroleum, or into which any product of petroleum enters, or is found as a constituent element, whether manufactured in this state or not, offered for sale or used for consumption for power purposes in propelling motor vehicles.'
The purpose of the statute is plain, i. e., to collect from the users of motor vehicles a fund which shall be expended to maintain the roads which are so largely used by such vehicles. The tax is not levied upon the products of petroleum as such, but upon such part of said products as are devoted to the purpose named in the statute. It is not measured by the value of the property, but by the quantity sold. Such products of petroleum as are devoted to the specified use form an easily recognized class. The classification is reasonable, and clearly defined, and that is the test. 26 R.C.L. 216. It is in no sense discriminatory, because it applies to all sales of that kind, and affects all dealers in proportion to their sales, if it can, in truth, be said to affect them at all, since the tax is added to the price of the product. It applies impartially to dealers throughout the whole state. It is, in fact, a tax upon the sale and use of the product, rather than upon the product itself.
Considering ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Walker v. Bedford
... ... tax, in addition to the general property tax, does not ... contravene the Constitution. Ard v. People, 66 Colo ... 480, 182 P. 892. That case goes beyond the rule announced in ... many jurisdictions which limit excises to an amount ... reasonably ... overlooked Denver City Ry. [93 Colo. 407] Co. v ... Denver, 21 Colo. 350, 41 P. 826, 29 L.R.A. 608, 52 ... Am.St.Rep. 239, and Altitude Oil Co. v. People, 70 ... Colo. 452, 202 P. 180, for we have considered them and find ... them without point here. The first of those cases goes ... ...
-
Cunningham v. Potts
...L. Ed. 1139; Texas Co. v. Brown, 258 U. S. 466, 42 S. Ct. 375, 66 L. Ed. 721; State v. Hart, 125 Wash. 520, 217 P. 45; Altitude Oil Co. v. People, 70 Colo. 452, 202 P. 180; Standard Oil Co. v. Brodie, 153 Ark. 114, 239 S. W. 753; Amos v. Gunn, 84 Fla. 285, 94 So. 615-640; Viquesney v. Kansa......
-
City of Ardmore v. State ex rel. Okla. Tax Comm'n
...claim is unsound, because the tax in question is an excise tax, and not a tax on property, real or personal. Altitude Oil Co. v. People, 70 Colo. 452, 202 P. 180. D. C. Ry. Co. v. Denver, 21 Colo. 350, 41 P. 826, 29 L. R. A. 608, 52 Am. St. Rep. 239. The Constitution was not directed to suc......
-
People v. Deep Rock Oil Corp.
...239 S. W. 753;Gafill v. Bracken, 195 Ind. 551, 145 N. E. 312,146 N. E. 109;State v. Hart, 125 Wash. 520, 217 P. 45;Altitude Oil Co. v. People, 70 Colo. 452, 202 P. 180;City of Portland v. Kozer, 108 Or. 375, 217 P. 833;Bowman v. Continental Oil Co., 256 U. S. 642, 41 S. Ct. 606, 65 L. Ed. 1......