C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Collins
C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Collins
Opinion of the Court
The Georgia Code authorizes a four percent state sales and use tax and a one percent joint county and municipal sales and use tax (“local option tax”) upon certain transactions.
Section 48-8-82 defines the counties’ and municipalities’ authority to impose the local option tax:
Except as to rate, the joint tax shall correspond to the tax imposed and administered by Article 1 of this chapter. No item or transaction which is not subject to taxation by Article 1 of this chapter shall be subject to the tax levied pursu*449 ant to this article, except that the joint tax provided in this article shall be applicable to sales of motor fuels as that term is defined by Code Section 48-9-2.
(Emphasis supplied.)
The trial court relied on the highlighted language in concluding that § 48-8-82 bars local option taxes where the taxed transaction creates no state sales and use tax obligation. The trial court reasoned that because Matthews actually incurred no state sales and use tax by using the equipment in other counties, having paid the state tax when it purchased the equipment in Cobb County, there was nothing with which a local option tax could “correspond” under § 48-8-82. The Court of Appeals reversed,
1. The Court of Appeals’ interpretation of § 48-8-82 is mandated when that Code section is read and considered together with the related statutes in the remainder of Chapter 8 of Title 48.
Consistently, by stating that a taxing authority may not impose a local option tax upon “any item or transaction not subject to taxation under Article l,”
2. Matthews also contends that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the tax in this case is not barred by OCGA § 48-8-93,
3. Matthews further argues that the Court of Appeals decision conflicts with C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Collins
Judgment affirmed.
See OCGA §§ 48-8-1 through 48-8-66 (Art. 1); OCGA §§ 48-8-80 through 48-8-95 (Art. 2). Each tax may be imposed on the retail purchase, retail sale, rental, storage, use, and consumption of tangible personal property and related services. OCGA § 48-8-3.
Collins v. C. W. Matthews Contracting Co., 213 Ga. App. 109 (444 SE2d 100) (1994).
C. W. Matthews Contracting Co., 213 Ga. App. at 111. The Court of Appeals encompassed in its decision language in OCGÁ § 48-8-110 (authorizing a special county one percent sales and use tax) and in the MARTA sales and use tax, see MARTA Act of 1965 (as amended in Ga. L. 1971, p. 2082), which is similar to that in § 48-8-82. However, since the assessment at issue in this case is for local option taxes only, we limit our analysis to § 48-8-82.
See Pafford v. Biomet, 264 Ga. 540 (448 SE2d 347) (1994). (“[Statutes relating to the same subject-matter, briefly called statutes ‘in pari materia,’ are construed together and harmonized whenever possible .... [Cit.]” Id. at 542.)
Article 1 provides relevant definitions, OCGA § 48-8-2, and sets forth the time for assessment, OCGA § 48-8-64.
OCGA § 48-8-82.
See OCGA §§ 48-8-3 (l)-(55); 48-8-4; 48-8-5.
See OCGA § 48-8-3.1.
The credit provided by § 48-8-90 does not affect Matthews’s tax liability in this case because Matthews paid no local option tax in Cobb County.
See C. W. Matthews Contracting Co., 213 Ga. App. at 112, n. 3.
See n. 1, supra, listing the taxable transactions covered by the statutory scheme.
214 Ga. App. 532 (448 SE2d 234) (1994).
214 Ga. App. 512 (448 SE2d 236) (1994).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- C. W. MATTHEWS CONTRACTING COMPANY v. COLLINS
- Status
- Published