Gulf Refining Co. v. Graham

Citation300 S.W. 564
PartiesGULF REFINING CO. v. GRAHAM, Comptroller, et al.
Decision Date17 December 1927
CourtSupreme Court of Tennessee

Suit by the Gulf Refining Company against Edgar J. Graham, Comptroller, and others. Decree for complainant, and defendant named appeals. Affirmed.

Horace Osment, Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Chas. C. Trabue, of Nashville, for appellee.

CHAMBLISS, J.

This suit was brought to recover privilege taxes alleged to have been wrongfully collected under the following provision of the Revenue Act of 1927, being chapter 89:

"An `oil and gas filling station' shall each be understood to mean and include any place within this state where petroleum products, benzol or other substitutes for petroleum products are sold or offered for sale and delivered direct to motor driven vehicles as a fuel for the same. Each person, firm or corporation, or association, having, operating or maintaining an oil or gas filling station and selling therefrom petroleum products or benzol direct to the consumer, shall pay a privilege in each county based on the number of pumps from which such products are sold, as follows:

                On one pump or tank (or the first pump)
                  per annum ..................................... $10.00
                On each additional pump or tank, per annum ......   5.00
                

"Provided, that only one-half of the above tax shall be collected where the pump or pumps are run in connection with a store where the ad valorem tax paid on the stock is on an assessed value of not less than $800.00, and the store is located at least three miles from the limits of an incorporated town." Section 4.

Complainant was required to pay this tax, not only on the pumps or tanks operated in the delivery of petroleum products sold as a fuel for motor driven vehicles, but also on those pumps or tanks used to deliver lubricating oils incidentally required in the operation of these machines. The chancellor held that the tax should be limited to the pumps or tanks used for the delivery of the petroleum products sold as a fuel, and granted a decree in favor of complainant from which the state comptroller has appealed.

While the provision of the act quoted is not as clear as it might be made, we concur with the chancellor. The limiting words, "as a fuel for the same," can be given effect only by adopting this construction, and it is the duty of the court to look to the pertinent statute as a whole and give all parts of it...

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4 cases
  • McGill & Daugherty v. Kefauver
    • United States
    • Tennessee Supreme Court
    • March 2, 1940
    ... ... v. Hays, 125 Tenn. 148, 140 S.W. 1068; Memphis v. Bing, 94 Tenn. 644, 30 S.W. 745; Gulf Refining Co. v. Graham, 156 Tenn. 265, 300 S.W. 564 ...         The contention is made by ... ...
  • Burns v. Johnson
    • United States
    • Tennessee Supreme Court
    • July 1, 1939
    ...be resolved in favor of the tax payer. Chattanooga Plow Company v. Hays, 125 Tenn. 148, 155, 140 S.W. 1068; Gulf Refining Company v. Graham, 156 Tenn. 265, 267, 300 S.W. 564. For the reason stated, the decree of the chancellor is ...
  • Zager v. Cobb
    • United States
    • Tennessee Supreme Court
    • March 9, 1951
    ...are not extended by inference, and that all doubts in construction must be resolved in favor of the tax payer.' Gulf Refining Co. v. Graham, 156 Tenn. 265, 267, 300 S.W. 564, 565. We next consider the 1947 amendment to the Act, Advertisement as a Delicatessen Shop. Under the admitted facts,......
  • Gulf Refining Co. v. Graham
    • United States
    • Tennessee Supreme Court
    • December 17, 1927
    ...300 S.W. 564 156 Tenn. 265 GULF REFINING CO. v. GRAHAM, COMPTROLLER, ET AL. Supreme Court of Tennessee.December 17, Appeal from Chancery Court, Davidson County; John R. Aust, Chancellor. Suit by the Gulf Refining Company against Edgar J. Graham, Comptroller, and others. Decree for complaina......

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