Green v. Home News Pub. Co.
| Decision Date | 31 October 1956 |
| Citation | 90 So.2d 295 |
| Parties | Ray E. GREEN, as Comptroller of the State of Florida, and Thomas J. Kelly, as Sheriff of Dade County, Florida, Appellants, v. HOME NEWS PUBLISHING CO., Inc., a Florida corporation, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., Phillip Goldman, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Lewis H. Tribble, Gen. Counsel for Comptroller, Tallahassee, for appellants.
Walton, Lantaff, Schroeder, Atkins, Carson & Wahl, and James Knight, Miami, for appellee.
The only point presented for determination on this appeal is whether a publication, the 'Shopper Advertiser,' is a newspaper within the meaning of Section 212.08(4), Fla.Stat.1955, F.S.A., exempting, among others, 'newspapers' from the sales and use tax imposed by the Sales Tax Act, Chapter 212, Fla.Stat.1955, F.S.A. In a suit brought by the publisher, appellee here, against the Comptroller, appellant, to enjoin the collection of a tax imposed under the Act in question, the lower court found that it was a 'newspaper', and entered a decree in favor of the publisher. The Comptroller has appealed.
The decree was entered upon facts stipulated by the parties, as follows: that the 'Shopper Advertiser' is distributed free to the public by the publisher; that it has a third-class mailing privilege and is not, therefore, authorized to carry legal advertising; and that, if it is not a 'newspaper' within the meaning of the Act, the tax imposed by the Comptroller is valid. Copies of the publication were exhibited to the Chancellor and have been sent to this court, from which it appears that the publication has no masthead setting forth its publisher, editor, circulation, place of publication, et cetera. It is apparently intended for circulation in Hialeah and Miami Springs, since those words appear at the top of each page and the advertising is limited to businesses in those areas. In one 12-page issue of the paper, one full page was devoted to news of local governmental affairs in Hialeah. Various items of household hints, recipes, advice to parents, and the like, were spotted on other pages and would consume, altogether, almost a page of the publication. The remainder was devoted entirely to advertising. In a 16-page issue, one full page was again devoted to local governmental affairs, and, except for one item (a recipe), the remainder was advertising.
While the particular question here presented has not been before this court heretofore--nor, so far as we can tell, before any other court--we have considered the question of whether a magazine, such as Time or Life, is entitled to exemption from the sales tax as a 'newspaper'. This court, in Gasson v. Gay, Fla.1950, 49 So.2d 525, 526, 21 A.L.R.2d 412, held that such magazines were not exempt from the tax, and said:
"The provision in section 8, chapter 26319, Laws of Florida, acts of 1949 [F.S.A. § 212.08], exempting 'newspapers' from the operation of said chapter, had reference to the natural, plain and ordinary significance of the word newspaper--the understanding of the word newspaper in general and common...
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