Honorable George H. Sheppard

Comptrollerof PublicAccounts Austin, Texas

Dear Sir: OpinionNo. O-3797 Re: Liability of agencies and instrumentalitiesof the Federal Government, and counties, cities, schooldistricts and other polltical subdivisionsof the State of Texas, for the excise tax levied by Article 6, House Bill No. 8, Acts, Regular Session, 47th Legislature,upon the sale
or use of motor vehicles In Texas.

Your letter of July, 21, 1941, submits for our opinion the followingquestion,which we quote therefrom:

"'You will please advise this department whether the one per centmotor vehicle tax, le,vied by Article 6, House Bill 8, Acts of the Regular Session of the Forty-seventhLegislature, accrues on motor vehicles owned and oper#sted by agencies of the federal government, co'unties,

titles, schooldistricts, and other political subdivisions."

Section 1, Article 6, House Bill No. 8, Acts, Regular Session, Forty-seventh Legislature, levies an excise tax upon every retail sale of a motor vehicle in this State, equal to
one per cent of the total considerationpaid or to be paid to the sellerby the buyer. Section 2 of saidArticle levies, in the same amount, another species of an excise tax, to-wit, a use tax, upon everymotor vehicle purchased at retail sale outside of this State and brought into this State for use upon the public highways thereof.

Inasmuch as all owners ofmotor vehicles purchased in Texas, or purchased elsewhereand brought into the State for
use upon the highways,must, before operating such vehicles upon the public hlghwags,roads and streets of the State, apply to the assessor-collectorof taxes of the county inwhichHonorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 o-3797

he resides, for the registration of such vehicles for the ensuing or current calendaryear or unexpired portion thereof and pay license or registratfon fees therefor, (Article 6675a-3, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes) the Legislature conceived that the effectiveadministration of a sales or use tax upon motor vehicles could best be lodgedwLth such assessor-collectorof taxes of the several counties, Hence, Section 5 of the Act before us provides the followingmethod of col.lectlon:

"Thetaxes levied In this Article shall be collectedby theAssessor and Collector of Taxes of the county inwhich any suchmotor vehicle is first registered or first transferredafter such
a sale; the Tax Collector shall refuse to accept for registration or for transfer any motor vehicle ur.tllthe tax thereon is paid.

"Whena tax becomes due on a motor vehicle purchased outside of this State and brought into this State for use upon the highways, the person, firm, or corporation operating saidmotor vehicle uF!onthe public highways of this State shallpay theetax imposedby Section 2 to the Tax Collector of the county inwhich suchmotor vehicle is to be registered. The tax shall be paid at the time a&tplicatlon

Ismade for registration of said motor vehicle, and the Tax Collector shall refuse to issue the registration license until the tax is paid."

But the Tax Assessor-Collector of the county, under contrclling statutes,has nothingwhatsoever to do with the registration of themotor vehicles involved In your inquiry, but rather, the registration of such vehicles Iswith the State HighwayDepartment exclusively. The portion ofArticle 6675a-3, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, pertinent here, reads as follows:

'IOwners

of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers,which are the property of, and used exclusively in the service of the United States Government, the State of Texas, or any County, City or SchoolDistrict thereof, shall apply annually to register all such vehicles, but shall not be required to pay the registration fees herein prescribed,provided that affidavit ismade at the time of registrationby
a personwho has the proper authority that such vehicles are the property of and used excluslve-- -

Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 3 0-3797

ly In the service of the United States Government, the State of Texas, or County or City or SchoolDistrict thereof, as the casemay be

..."

Article 6675a-3aa,Vernon's Annotated Civ11 Statutes, provides as follows:

"Beforethe delLvery of license plates to anyone engaged exclusively in the service of and operatingvehicleswhich are the property of the United States Government, or the State of Texas, or any counties, or cities thereof, such application shall have the approval of the State Highway Department before said plates are issued to any such applicant, and if 1t appears that saidvehiclewas transferred to any such agency for the sole purpose of evadFng the payment of registration fees, or that the samewas not made In good faith, such plates shall not be issued. If, after the issuance of such, said vehicles cease to be, or are found to not be the property of such agencies, then such license fee receipt may be revoked, saidplates may be recalled, ar‘ taken intopossessionby the State Hl.ghway

Dcpaptment. SaidDepartment may provide for the issuanceof speciallydesignated plates to those exemptby law, and may provide rules and regulations for the Issuance thereof,and for the enforcementhereof, and it shallbe unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle if the license fee receipt has been revoked, and any such person shallbe liable for the penalties prescribed for the failure to register a motor vehicle,which isbeing driven upon public hi.ghwags.

"

It is our understanding that the State Highway Department and the various Tax Assessors-Collectorsof the State have uniformly and consistentlyconstrued the above provisions to req,uire

all matters affecting the registration of motor vehicles owned and operatedby agencies of the United States, the State of Texas, or any of its political subdivisions,to be handled entirely and exclusivelyby said State HighwayDepartment and to place no authority or duty whatsoever upon the various Tax Assessors-Collectors of the State In this connection.

This existing statutory law and administrative or departmental interpretationthereunder,was, presumptively,and in contemplation of law, in the leglslatlvemind and intentHonorable George PI.Sheppard, page 4 0-3797

when the instantAct was subsequentlyenacted to levy a sales
or use tax uponmotor vehicles and place the collection of such taxes exclusivelywith the county Tax Assessors-Collectors. Therefore, althoughwe find no express exemption of the motor vehic!.es

described inyour letter, from the tax levied by thisAct, we think the above statutesand considerations necessarily imply the exemption of such vehicles from the purview and intendmentof the Act. No method of collector Lng this tax upon the sale or use of such described vehicles being devised or arranged by the Legislature, Itwould be an anomaly to hold that nevertheless the Legislature intended that such a taxwould accrue.

Trusting the foregoing fully answers your Inquiries,

we are

Yours very truly

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By s/Pat M. Neff, Jr. Pat M. Neff, Jr. Assistant

PMR:LM:wc

APPROVED AUG 4, 1941 s/GroverSellers FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
Approved Opinion CommitteeBy s/BWB Chairman