Peninsula Transit v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 16 January 1936
• Citation: 165 Va. 614
• Parties: PENINSULA TRANSIT CORPORATION v. COMMONWEALTH.
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Page 614

165 Va. 614

PENINSULA TRANSIT CORPORATION v. COMMONWEALTH.

Supreme Court of Virginia, Richmond.

January 16, 1936.

Present, All the Justices.

1. MOTOR VEHICLE CARRIERS — Taxation — Gross Transportation Receipts — Section 4097y21 of the 1932 Supplement to the Code of 1930 — Construction — Case at Bar. — In the instant case, an appeal from an order of the State Corporation Commission sustaining a former order assessing taxes under section 4097y19 of the 1932 Supplement to the Code of 1930, on the gross transportation receipts of appellant, appellant contended that taxes should not be assessed against tolls collected by appellant and paid by it to bridge and ferry companies, whose bridges and ferries were used by appellant's busses, on the ground, among others, that the receipts intended to be taxed are only such as are received through use of the highways, and the tax is imposed to compensate the state for such use.

Held: That section 4097y21 of the 1932 Supplement to the Code of 1930 should not be given the narrow construction contended for by appellant. There are two distinct reasons stated in the section for the imposition of the tax: (a) Defraying the cost of administering the laws regulating the operation of such motor vehicle carriers; and (b) as a just and reasonable contribution to the cost of constructing, reconstructing, maintaining and policing such highways.

2. MOTOR VEHICLE CARRIERS — Taxation — Gross Transportation Receipts — Tolls Paid Bridge and Ferry Companies Not Excepted — Case at Bar. — In the instant case, an appeal from an order of the State Corporation Commission sustaining a former order assessing taxes under section 4097y19 of the 1932 Supplement to the Code of 1930, on the gross transportation receipts of appellant, appellant contended that taxes should not be assessed on tolls collected by appellant and paid by it for the bus passengers to bridge and ferry companies on appellant's routes, on the ground, among others, that such tolls were no part of the gross transportation receipts of the carrier.

Held: That the language "total gross transportation receipts" in section 4097y19 is broad and comprehensive language, and there is no exception of any nature whatsoever in the statute. If it had been intended that motor vehicle carriers could deduct from their gross transportation receipts the tolls paid to bridge and ferry companies, it would have been easy and pertinent to except such receipts.

3. TAXATION — Double Taxation — What Constitutes Double Taxation Forbidden by Constitution. — The double taxation forbidden by the constitution is such as would require the same person or the same subject of taxation to contribute twice to the same burden, while other subjects of taxation belonging to the same class are required to contribute but once.

4. MOTOR VEHICLE CARRIERS — Taxation — Gross Transportation Receipts — Including Tolls Paid to Bridge and Ferry Companies Is Not Double Taxation — Case at Bar. — In the instant case, an appeal from an order of the State Corporation Commission sustaining a former order assessing taxes under section 4097y19 of the 1932 Supplement to the Code of 1930, on the gross transportation receipts of appellant, the latter contended that taxes should not be assessed on tolls collected by appellant and paid by it to bridge and ferry companies on appellant's routes, on the ground, among others, that it amounted to double taxation to impose the tax on the carriers and also impose a gross receipts tax on the bridge and ferry companies receiving the tolls.

Held: That the taxation of the whole of appellant's gross receipts was not illegal double taxation.

Appeal from an order of the State Corporation Commission.

The opinion states the case.

Lett, Murray & Ford, for the appellant.

Abram P. Staples, Attorney-General, and W. W. Martin, Assistant Attorney-General, for the Commonwealth.

CAMPBELL, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from an order of the State Corporation Commission sustaining its former order of assessment of taxes against appellant in regard to certain tolls paid bridge and ferry companies under authority of an act of the General Assembly, approved March 26, 1932.

Honorable Thomas W. Ozlin, Chairman of the Corporation Commission, in an able and exhaustive opinion filed with the record, has so clearly and satisfactorily presented the law and the facts of the case that we adopt the same as the opinion of the court.

The opinion is as follows:

"On November 20, 1934, Peninsula Transit Corporation filed its petition, asking the State Corporation Commission to review and correct what it alleged to be an erroneous assessment of taxes upon certain tolls paid bridge and ferry companies, which taxes were assessed by the State Corporation Commission, under authority of an act approved March 26, 1932, Acts of General Assembly, page 707, et seq. chapter 360.

"The petitioner alleged that it was a carrier of passengers in the tidewater section of Virginia, on the north and south sides of the James river, over routes which crossed certain bridges and ferries located wholly within the State of Virginia, and also the ferry at Colonial Beach, Virginia, across the Potomac river. The total amount of tolls alleged to have been paid said bridge and ferry companies is $26,204.02, and the 2 per cent tax assessed under the provisions of said act of the General Assembly amounts to a sum of $524.08, and this is the amount which is in controversy. Petitioner paid this sum of $524.08 into the treasury of the State of Virginia, the payment being made under protest. The Commission is, therefore, asked to review, correct, and cancel the said tax, and order its refund to petitioner.

"The petition sets forth four separate grounds upon which it seeks a review and correction of said assessment, as follows:

"`First: Because the charge imposed is upon vehicle carriers operating over the public highways of the State and it is declared by section 8 of the Act to be compensatory and as a just and reasonable contribution to the costs of constructing, reconstructing, maintaining and policing such highways incident to the use thereof by such motor vehicle carriers, and the fees and charges imposed by the Act are segregated for exclusive use upon the highway and the traffic thereon, and, therefore, the receipts intended by the Act should be limited to such as are derived by motor vehicles in the use of such State highways.

"`Second: The tolls collected from passengers and paid over to ferry companies are so received and paid, not for transportation by this applicant in its operation, but for transportation by the ferry companies which alone perform that service upon the water.

"`Third: It was not intended by the Act to impose the tax against the ferry company upon its gross transportation receipts for carrying passengers over the water spaces intervening in the State highway, and, at the same time, impose the like tax upon your petitioner for the same toll collected by it upon the same passengers and paid to the ferry companies. This double taxation was not intended.

"`Fourth: That the statute and the words "gross transportation receipts," as interpreted and applied by the courts of this country, do not include tolls collected from passengers and paid over to ferry and bridge companies not forming part of the public highways of the State and should not be interpreted and applied against this applicant.'

"The pertinent facts are that the petitioner, in conducting its operations, uses several ferries and the bridges of the James River Bridge Corporation. The ferries and bridges used are as follows:

"Colonial Beach Ferry — This ferry operates from Colonial Beach, Virginia, across the Potomac river to the State of Maryland. This ferry is owned by an individual, and, of course, the State imposes no tax on the gross receipts derived from the operation of the ferry.

"Yorktown Ferry — This ferry operates from Yorktown across the York river to Gloucester Point. It is likewise owned by an individual, and the State imposes no tax on the gross receipts derived from the operation.

"Chesapeake Ferry — This ferry operates from Newport News to Pine Beach, Virginia, and is owned by the Chesapeake Ferry Company, and the State imposes a tax on its gross receipts. The charge per passenger across this ferry is 15c.

"Norfolk-Portsmouth Ferry — This ferry runs from the city of Norfolk to the city of Portsmouth. It is owned by the county of Norfolk and the city of Portsmouth, and no gross receipts or other tax is levied or collected by the State of Virginia. The charge per passenger across this ferry is 5c.

"James River Bridge Corporation — This corporation operates three bridges, one across James river, and the other two across rivers or creeks between Benns Church and Portsmouth. The property of this corporation is assessed entirely to the counties on each side of the streams crossed. The charge to the bus company per passenger on all three, or any one, of these bridges, is 20c. The petitioner gets a reduction per passenger on all the ferries and bridges under what is paid by an individual, due to the frequent trips. The ferry and bridge tolls are not paid daily, but either monthly or semi-monthly, a record of the number of passengers on each bus being kept by the ferries and by the toll-keeper of the bridges.

"The purchaser of a ticket for transportation on a bus crossing any of the ferries or bridges, is not advised that any portion of the price of the ticket is for bridge or ferry tolls. The passenger is simply charged a certain amount for the trip, and there is nothing on the ticket or elsewhere to indicate to the passenger that any portion of the price paid is for bridge or ferry tolls, except that the ticket has printed on it the words, `subject to tariff regulations.' regulations.'

"The petitioner absorbs the bridge and ferry tolls where it is...