Howard v. Commissioners of Sinking Fund of Louisville
Concurring in Part
dissenting.
I have not been able to follow the argument that this tax is an “income tax” within the meaning of the Buck Act. It is by its terms a “license fee” levied on “the privilege” of engaging in certain activities. The tax is narrowly confined to salaries, wages, commissions and to the net profits of businesses, professions, and occupations. Many kinds of income are excluded, e. g., dividends, interest, capital gains. The exclusions emphasize that the tax is on the privilege of working or doing business in Louisville. That is the kind of a tax the Kentucky Court of Appeals held it to be. Louisville v. Sebree, 308 Ky. 420, 214 S. W. 2d 248. The Congress has not yet granted local authorities the right to tax the privilege of working for or doing business with the United States.
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Two questions are presented by this appeal: (1) The validity of the annexation by the City of Louisville, Kentucky, of certain federally owned land on which a
By condemnation proceedings filed in 1940, the United States acquired the land on which the Ordnance Plant is located, with the consent of the Legislature of Kentucky given in a general statute.
The appellants first contend that the City could not annex this federal area because it had ceased to be a part of Kentucky when the United States assumed exclusive jurisdiction over it. With this we do not agree. When the United States, with the consent of Kentucky, acquired the property upon which the Ordnance Plant is located, the property did not cease to be a part of Kentucky. The geographical structure of Kentucky remained the same. In rearranging the structural divisions of the Commonwealth, in accordance with state law, the area became a part of the City of Louisville, just as it remained a part of the County of Jefferson and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A state may conform its municipal structures to its own plan, so long as the state does not interfere with the exercise of jurisdiction within
This question has been before other state courts, and the right to annex has been upheld. Wichita Falls v. Bowen, 143 Tex. 45, 52, 182 S. W. 2d 695, 699; County of Norfolk v. Portsmouth, 186 Va. 1032, 1047, 45 S. E. 2d 136, 142-143. We agree with these cases and hold that Louisville was free to annex the Ordnance Plant area.
Even though the Ordnance Plant is within the boundaries of the City of Louisville pursuant to the annexation, exclusive jurisdiction over the area still remains with the United States, except as modified by statute. U. S. Const., Art. I, § 8, cl. 17; Surplus Trading Co. v. Cook, 281 U. S. 647, 652. Within this jurisdiction, the right to tax income paid to employees of the Government who worked at the Ordnance Plant was granted by 4 U. S. C. §§ 105-110, known as the Buck Act. Section 106 of this Act reads as follows:
“§ 106. Same; income tax.
“(a) No person shall be relieved from Lability for any income tax levied by any State, or by any duly constituted taxing authority therein, having jurisdiction to levy such a tax, by reason of his residing within a Federal area or receiving income from trans*628 actions occurring or services performed in such area; and such State or taxing authority shall have full jurisdiction and power to levy and collect such tax in any Federal area within such State to the same extent and with the same effect as though such area was not a Federal area.
“(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall be applicable only with respect to income or receipts received after December 31,1940.” 4 U. S. C. (Supp. V) § 106.
Section 110 (c) defines “income tax” as follows:
“(c) The term ‘income tax’ means any tax levied on, with respect to, or measured by, net income, gross income, or gross receipts.” 4 U. S. C. (Supp. V) § 110 (c).
Thus the right is specifically granted to the City of Louisville as a taxing authority of Kentucky to levy and collect a tax measured by the income or earnings of any party “receiving income from transactions occurring or services performed in such area ... to the same extent and with the same effect as though such area was not a Federal area.” In other words, Kentucky was free to tax earnings just as if the Federal Government were not there.
But the appellants next argue that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the City’s occupational tax or license fee was an “income tax” within the meaning of the Buck Act, though holding that this tax or fee was not an income tax under the Constitution of Kentucky.
Was this tax an “income tax” within the meaning of the Buck Act? In a prior case, Kentucky had held this tax was not an “income tax” within the meaning of the Constitution of Kentucky but was a tax upon the privilege of working within the City of Louisville. Louisville v. Sebree, 308 Ky. 420, 429-431, 214 S. W. 2d 248, 253-254. But the right to tax earnings within the area
Since the area is within the boundaries of the City of Louisville, and this tax is an income tax within the meaning of the Buck Act, the tax is valid. The judgment is
Affirmed.
“3.010. Consent of state to acquisition of lands. The Commonwealth of Kentucky consents to the acquisition by the United States of all lands and appurtenances in this state heretofore legally acquired, or that may be hereafter legally acquired by purchase, or by condemnation, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, post offices, custom houses, courthouses and other needful buildings, and for locks, dams and canals in improving the navigation of the rivers and waters within and on the borders of Kentucky.” Ky. Rev. Stat., 1948.
“On and after July 1, 1950, every person, association, corporation or other entity engaged in any occupation, trade, profession, or other activity in the City shall pay into the Sinking Fund of the City for the purposes set forth under Section 91.200 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes as amended by an Act of the General Assembly of 1950, an annual license fee for the privilege of engaging in said activities, which license fee shall be measured by one per centum of (a) all salaries, wages, commissions and other compensations earned by every person in the City for work done or services performed or rendered in the City; and (b) the net profits of all businesses, professions, or occupations from activities conducted in the City.” Ordinance 83, Series 1950, City of Louisville.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- HOWARD Et Al. v. COMMISSIONERS OF THE SINKING FUND OF THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE Et Al.
- Cited By
- 163 cases
- Status
- Published