OFFICE OF l-NE ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN 

Honorable onill. 8. Carpenter 

Chairman and Xxaautlre Direotor 

Taxaa U~Omplopmsnt Oompensation Cod~aion 

Austin, Tour 

qurrtlng our opill 

(1) aad (4), Seat tlard Clrll sta+ 

Wb quote from y 

mmber 88, 1939, re- 011 Of sub-motion8 

2lb-17, Vernoa' l mw 

frot rltuatlon whloh 

oyment during 

oquirer ownerthe twentp-eeoond 

has twu persona 

irot twenty-iire week8 

Nerapaper Z ia valued 

g the twenty-fifth mek of 1938, 

artnerahip interest in Neneing the twenty-sixth week and 

erks 5~ 1938, Newspaper 2 ha6 sir 

employmentr The partnerahlp agrorwriting and there ir no ~agreemenb 

a8 to gontrol or management or ita operationar 

oD~~a Seotlon 19 (r) (4) apply to this Saab 

eituatloa to rrnder both N and 2 WplOyW8 

m&or the Tbxa8 Onemployment 0omprnrrtion Aott* 
Honorable Orville, 9. Carptnter, Page e 

follows: 

Sub-ssotlons (1) and (4) of Sootion (r) roads as 

w ‘Employer’ means 

” 1) tlon o 1 

My emplo 

a day but no z 

Ing unit whIoh for some porneoessarlly simultaneously, 

In eaoh of twenty (20) different weeks, whether 

or not suoh weeks are or were oonseoutlvs, wlthIn either the ourrsnt or the Dreoedlnn ialendar 

pear, has or had In employmeni eight (8) 

IndIvIduala (Irrsspeotlre or whether ths 

Indlrlduals are or were employ06 In saoh 

da)r) I 

or more 

ssms 

suoh 

w* * * 

“(4) Any emPloYing Unit which together 

with ens or mo e.other amp10 ing units, Is owns& 

or oontrolled 1 by legally en $ oyoeable msans or 

otherwIs8) dlreotly or Indlrsotlp bp the sams 

Interest, or whloh owns or controls one or more 

other smploying unIt8 (by legally snforosabls 

means or otherwlss), and which, Ii treated as 

a single unit with such othsr smploping unit, 

would be an employer under paragraph (1) of 

this subsaotlon~ 

a* * **n 

Ths factual situation oontainsd id your letter 

raises ths question whether or not the owner of a six-sevenths 

(a/7) partnership Interest In a newspaper owns or oontrols 

said partnership buelness within meaning of sub-ssotion (4) 

of Seotlon (f) oi Artiole 522lb-17, supra, In the absenos ot 

an agreement as to the oontrol and managsment o? said partnerehip. 

It Is generally held that eaoh partner, In the 

absenoe of tm agrsemsnt to the oontrary, has an equal right 

to oontrol and manage the buslnese. 49 Corpus Surls. oh, 296. 

It Is also the general rule that a partner does not own any 

particular Intereat In a partnership enterprise but his Interest 

extends only to a proportlonats share of what map remain after 

payment OS the debts of the partner&hip and the ssttlsmsnt of 

Its aooounts. Shark v. Bank, 806 9. W. ‘507. 

Ws are of the oplnlon that ths Legislaturs, being 

familiar,~th the abets rules, nstsrthsless, intended that an 

Individual owning a sir-sevenths (6/T) Interest in a partner- 
Honoreble Orville 9. Csryenter, Fage 3 

ship buelnesri doos own or control the business In the absence 

of an aqeenent to the oontrery. This Intent Is derived from 

sub-seotlon (4) ot Seotlon (I) of Artlole 5221b-17, whloh provides that if one employln~ unit *owned or oontrollad (b 

leqlly enforoeable means or otherwIse) dlreotlp or Ind 35 reot- 

&, another enploylng unit, then they would b treetsd as 

one unit under the Aot. The words *owned” sndewoontrolled* 

are general terms end their neaeing would vary according to 

the3.x use. 

This being bme, Newspaper “M” , vihloh “A* owns outrI&t, and Newspaper nZn, of whloh “An owns a six-aerenths 

(6/T) partnership Interest, are to be treated as one employIng unit and are oonsldered en en loper within the Act. %aaJnnIng on the trranty-sixth (26th v weak, both.newspapers, 

together hating eight (8) indlriduale in their employment 

would be liable for meld taxes at the beglnnln(l of the fortysixth (46th) weok of the year, WM. 

Yours very truly 

ATT~PJEY Ol3G3U.L OF TEXt.3 

blenn Ii. Lewis 

Aeslstent 

Lu BY 

Lee shoptar 

.ws 

kT'HXWCY GEN::: ..L OF TTXAS