Pullman Co. v. Knott
| Decision Date | 26 June 1915 |
| Citation | 69 So. 703,70 Fla. 9 |
| Parties | PULLMAN CO. v. KNOTT, State Comptroller. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Leon County; D. A. Simmons, Judge.
Suit by the Pullman Company, a corporation, against W. V. Knott, as State Comptroller. From decree for defendant, complainant appeals. Affirmed.
Syllabus by the Court
License taxes are not required to be uniform; but, under the constitutional authority to provide for levying a tax on licenses, the Legislature may impose such purely license occupation, or privilege taxes as it deems proper, when no property right that is secured by the Constitution is thereby violated.
No provision of the Constitution forbids the imposition of license or privilege taxes on the right to do business in the state and also on the gross receipts of such business. Both of these exactions are in the nature of 'license or privilege or occupational taxes.'
The character and extent of taxes imposed are within the legislative discretion, when constitutional limitations are not violated.
By imposing a license tax as a condition precedent to the right to do intrastate business in the state, and also a tax upon the gross receipts of such business, the Legislature has not violated the Constitution or exceeded its powers; and it is not material whether the two taxes are imposed by one or by different statutes, enacted concurrently or at different times. The policy disclosed in the exactions made is not subject to judicial review.
The provisions of section 47, chapter 5596, Acts of 1907, section 45, chapter 6421, Acts of 1913, section 596qq, Compiled Laws of 1914, imposing upon all sleeping and parlor car companies in the state a tax of $1.50 upon each $100 of the gross receipts from business done between points in this state, are fairly covered by the title of the acts, and do not deny due process of law, or the equal protection of the laws.
COUNSEL John E. & Julian Hartridge, of Jacksonville, for appellant.
T. F West, Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Suit was brought by the Pullman Company to enjoin the state comptroller from enforcing, by levy upon cars of the complainant company, the payment of the sum of $1.50 upon each $100 of the gross receipts of the company derived from business done between points in this state by such cars; such tax being by statute imposed upon all sleeping and parlor car companies in the state. Section 47 c. 5596, Acts. of 1907; section 45, c. 6421, Acts of 1913; section 596qq, Compiled Laws of 1914. Relief is sought upon the theory that the statute imposing such tax violates the state and federal Constitutions, in that it deprives the complainant of its property without due process of law and denies to it the equal protection of the laws. Injunction is asked on the ground that the remedy at law is inadequate. A demurrer to the bill of complaint was sustained and the bill dismissed. The complainant company appealed. As the Attorney General asks for a decision on the merits of the case, the right of the complainant to proceed in an equity forum will not be discussed, in view of the nature and uses of sleeping and parlor cars on which a levy is sought to be enjoined.
The argument is that since the Pullman Company pays a property tax upon its cars used in this state, and also pays 'a license tax of $5,500' for doing intrastate business in this state, the tax of $1.50 upon each $100 of the gross intrastate receipts from the Pullman cars violates the taxation and due process of law provisions of the state Constitution and the fourteenth amendment of the federal Constitution. That the tax here complained of does not violate the federal Constitution has been directly adjudicated in Pullman Company v. Knott Comptroller, 235 U.S. 23, 35 S.Ct. 2, 59 L.Ed. 105. It does not appear that the tax is an oppressive burden, arbitrarily or otherwise illegally put upon the complainant. See Peninsular Casualty Co. v....
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Amos v. Gunn
...1 cent per gallon on gasoline sold is not objectionable as double taxation. Both exactions amount to one license tax. See Pullman Co. v. Knott, 70 Fla. 9, 69 So. 703; Peninsular Industrial Ins. Co. v. State, 61 376, 55 So. 398. The objection that the tax of 1 cent per gallon is an 'excise t......
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... ... predicated upon just classifications. State ex rel ... Clarkson v. Philips, 70 fla. 340, 70 So. 367, Ann. Cas ... 1918A, 138; Pullman Co. v. Knott, 70 Fla. 9, 69 So ... The ... differences in license taxes between motor vehicles operated ... for hire and those operated ... ...
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Eugene Theatre Co. v. City of Eugene
...did not alter the essential character of the tax from an excise on the thing itself. Of closer application is Pullman Co. v. Knott, State Comptroller, 70 Fla. 9, 69 So. 703. It was there held to be within the legislative discretion to impose a tax on gross receipts from intrastate business,......
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State Ex Rel. Mckay v. Keller
... ... business occupations, which occupations are subject ... [191 So. 547] ... to license taxes. See Pullman Co. v. Knott, ... Comptroller, 70 Fla. 9, 69 So. 703; Afro-American ... Industrial & Benefit Ass'n v. State, 61 Fla. 85, 54 ... So. 383; Orange ... ...