Parish of East Feliciana v. Levy
| Decision Date | 01 March 1888 |
| Docket Number | 9,936 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | PARISH OF EAST FELICIANA v. LOUIS LEVY |
APPEAL from the Sixteenth District Court, Parish of East Feliciana. Kilbourne, J.
Stone & Browne, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
T. J Kernan, for Defendant and Appellee.
This suit is brought against the defendant for the sum of sixty dollars, with interest, as the amount he is due for parish license, on the business of retail merchant, in the town of Jackson, in the Parish of East Feliciana, for the years 1884 1885 and 1886 -- i.e., $ 20 per year for each one of those years.
His answer is, among other things, that he is not liable for any license tax on his business as retail merchant, because it is exempt from all parish taxation by the terms of section 1 of Act 172 of 1852.
The legality of this annual $ 20 license is put squarely at issue.
The evidence shows that the defendant is a retail dealer, or merchant, doing business in the town of Jackson, East Feliciana parish, and paid a State license of $ 20 during each of the three years mentioned.
Section 1 of Act 172 of 1852 is couched in the following language, viz.:
"That the town of Jackson, in the Parish of East Feliciana, be and the same is hereby exempt from the payment of parish taxes."
The construction which plaintiff's counsel placed on the provision of that act is, that the property, which is situated within the corporate limits of the town of Jackson, is alone exempt, and that the occupation of the citizen is not; while the construction contended for by counsel for defendant is, that all objects of parish taxation, whether property or occupation, come within the operation of the exemption.
Simplified and refined the question is, whether or not a license is a tax.
We are of the opinion that it is. License and tax are frequently and properly employed as convertible terms, though not precisely synonymous.
In Delecambre v.. Clere, 34 Ann. 1050, we said:
"Whilst this section conferred authority incident to police powers to regulate private markets, * * * it conferred no power to levy a tax or license," etc.
Again: "Licenses or taxes may be imposed on certain branches, etc."
In Metayer vs. Corrige, 38 Ann. 711, we said: "The taxing power of the city of New Iberia is its only power for obtaining revenue, by exactions levied upon its citizens, and that power is limited to the ad valorem or property tax, and the license tax."
Those decisions are in strict accord with the principle of interpretation announced by Mr....
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Air-Way Elec. Appliance Corp. v. Archer
... ... 15 Utah, 83, 95, 47 P. 1026; Parish of E. Feliciana v ... Levy, 40 La.Ann. 332, 4 So. 309. It may also be ... ...
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Ewell v. Board of Sup'rs of Louisiana State University and Agr. and Mechanical College, 43742
...requires a license fee imposed for the purpose of raising revenue, and the other imposed as a police regulation. Parish of East Feliciana v. Levy, 40 La.Ann. 332, 4 So. 309; State v. Hammond Packing Co., 110 La. 180, 34 So. 368; State v. American Ry. Express Co., 159 La. 1001, 106 So. 544; ......
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Holeproof Hosiery Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
...and "taxes" have sometimes been employed as convertible terms, though they are not precisely synonymous. See Parish of East Feliciana v. Levy, 40 La. Ann. 332; 4 So. 309. In Words and Phrases, first series, vol. 3, p. 2715, under "Fees" the following The meaning of the word "fees" is the re......
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Citizens' Ins. Co. v. Hebert
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