City of Farmers Branch v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc.

Citation537 S.W.2d 454
Decision Date05 May 1976
Docket NumberNo. B--5550,B--5550
PartiesCITY OF FARMERS BRANCH et al., Petitioners, v. AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, INC., Respondent.
CourtSupreme Court of Texas

Durant, Mankoff, Davis & Wolens, Ronald M. Mankoff, Dallas, for petitioners.

Carrington, Coleman, Sloman, Johnson & Blumenthal, Marvin S. Sloman and Peter Tierney, Dallas, for respondent.

GREENHILL, Chief Justice.

This is a companion case to our Cause Number B--5551, City of Farmers Branch v. Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, decided this day. 537 S.W.2d 452. The cases were submitted and argued together in this court.

The Honda warehouse in Farmers Branch stores parts and accessories for Honda automobiles, motorcycles, and outboard motors. The parts and accessories were imported from Japan in sealed sea vans. As in Matsushita, Farmers Branch assessed ad valorem personal property taxes on these items for the year 1972. Honda declined to pay the tax and brought this suit for a declaratory judgment that the merchandise was tax-exempt under the import-export clause, Section 10 of Article I of the United States Constitution.

The questions are the same as those presented in Matsushita, and the disposition of those questions in Matsushita control the disposition of this cause.

The judgments of the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals, 527 S.W.2d 776, are reversed; the injunction entered by the trial court against the assessment and collection of the taxes is dissolved; and judgment is here rendered that Honda is subject to the nondiscriminatory ad valorem taxes assessed by Farmers Branch.

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3 cases
  • Schettler v. County of Santa Clara
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • November 9, 1977
    ...Matsushita Elec. (Tex.1976) 537 S.W.2d 452 (cert. den. 429 U.S. 861, 97 S.Ct. 164, 50 L.Ed.2d 139; City of Farmers Branch v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Tex.Civ.App.1976) 537 S.W.2d 454 (cert. den. 429 U.S. 860, 97 S.Ct. 161, 50 L.Ed.2d 137)). It is, of course, well settled that a denia......
  • Nueces County Appraisal Dist. v. Diamond Shamrock Refining and Marketing Co.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Texas
    • April 29, 1993
    ......DIAMOND SHAMROCK REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, Appellee. . No. 13-91-308-CV. . Court of ... oil was shipped from foreign sources to American Petrofina's Harbor Island storage facility within ... City of Farmers Branch v. Matsushita Elec. Corp. of ... Swift Textiles, Inc. v. Watkins Motor Lines, Inc., 799 F.2d 697, 699, ......
  • Harris County v. Xerox Corp., 17862
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Texas. Court of Civil Appeals of Texas
    • April 30, 1981
    ...... ad valorem taxes assessed against it by the City of Houston, the Houston Independent School ... To meet the requirements of the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), 1 Xerox ed an affiliate company in New Mexico City to assemble copiers which ..., reversed its holdings in City of Farmers Branch, et al. v. Matsushita Electric Corporation ...v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc., 537 S.W.2d 454 (1976) and ......

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