Sharpe v. City of Lexington
Sharpe v. City of Lexington
Opinion of the Court
Opinion op the Court 'by
Affirming.
The Home Merchants’ Co-Operative Discount Company was organized by twelve merehauts of Lexington for the purpose of advertising tbeir business and for the general betterment of trade conditions. Under the articles of association it is provided that each merchant member shall give to his or its customers what are generally known as “trading stamps,” one stamp being given for each ten cent purchase, redeemable in merchandise at the store of the member. Stamps to be purchased from the company; one-third of the amount paid
Appellant, W. W. Sharpe, was duly elected as the company’s manager and accepted as his compensation the sum provided in the articles, to-wit: the monthly balance left in the account to his credit after the payment of all expenses, excluding the reserve fund.
By an ordinance of the city of Lexington it is provided :
“That any person, corporation or company engaged in the business of selling, trading' in or with or using in their business what are known as periodical tickets or trading stamps, or rebate stamps, shall pay an annual license of one hundred ($100.00) dollars. This does not apply to merchants using said stamps, periodical tickets or_ rebate stamps, but only to those who furnish same to said merchants. ’ ’
By a judgment of the police court appellant was found guilty of violating the above ordinance and was ordered to pay said license tax and costs. An appeal to the circuit court, taken by Sharpe, was dismissed and the matter is now before us for decision.
This is not an attempt to compel the payment of the tax by merchant members, they being expressly excluded therefrom by the ordinance itself. Appellant does not question the right of the city to tax trading stamp companies. The sole question is whether Sharpe was engaged in the business embraced by the ordinance and subject to the tax. Sharpe is not a merchant, nor a member of the association, nor is he employed by any one of the merchant members. His contract of employment is with the association.
In Commonwealth v. Gibson Co., 125 Ky. 440, 101 S. W. 385, it was held that a company engaged in the retail mercantile business which gave to-- its customers checks representing four'per cent of the purchase, exchangeable for articles in the store, or redeemable in cash, was not a trading stamp company, subject to the license tax provided for in section 4224, Kentucky Statutes. No one other than the Gibson Company and its
In French v. City of Louisville, etc., 152 Ky. 12, 153 S. W. 42, we held tha¡t each insurance adjuster employed by an adjustment bureau was subject to a license tax imposed by the city. It was contended that French was merely an employe or agent of the company and the company was subject to the payment of one tax only, but it was adjudged that, the tax was imposed upon the persons engaged in the business, therefore French was subject to the payment of the tax, and it was immaterial that he acted in the capacity of agent for someone else.
Finding no error in the judgment appealed from same is accordingly affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.