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### 'I'HEA~~RNEY GENERAL OF-TEXAS

September 

### 6, 1957

Hon. W. G. Woods, Jr. CountyAttorney Liberts Countv Liberty, Texas OPINION NO. WW-242
Re: Whether or not the car which a Deputy Sheriff owns and maintains exclusively for law enforcementwork Is exempted from the State Motor Vehicle Sales Tax, Dear Mr.
question we quoteWoods: and related questions.

You request the opinion of this officeupon the submittedin your letter of July 25, 1957, which as follows: "1 have been requestedby Mr. W. M. Perkins, one of our deputy sheriffsof Cleveland,Texas, to get an opinion from your office concerningthe StateMotor Vehicle Sales Tax. Mr. Perkins owns two cars and a vehicle referred to as a 'jeep*. One of said cars is used exclusively for his personal benefit and the 'jeep'is used forhis personal benefit as well as his law enforcementwork. One of said cars, however, is equipped with a shortwave radio and is used exclusively for carrying out his law enforcement duties as a deputy sheriff.
"Is the car whichMr. Perkins owns and maintains exclusively for law enforcement work exempted from the State MotorVehicle Sales Tax? If so, are the tires and equipment thereon exempted from the state sales tax? "Article 8, Section 2 and Article 11, Section 9 of Texas Constitutionand Article 7150 of V.A.C.S. exempt certainproperty used for public purposes from taxation, however I was unable to find any authority for exemption from taxation in a case similar to Mr. Perkins' request. It is requested that you furnish this officeHon. W. G. Woods, Jr. Page No. 2 OpinionNo. WW-242

with any previous opinions renderedby the Attorney General's Office on this subject. If no related opinionhas been rendered, I would be willing to prepare a formal request for opinion."
In our letter of July 29, 1957,we requestedmore specific Informationbut we have concluded that we may answer your request without this information.

We are here concerned only with the car owned by Mr. Perkins, the deputy sheriff of Liberty County,which he uses exclusively in his work as deputy sheriff. For this car to be exempt from taxationwe must find the authority in Section 2 of ArticleVIII of the Constitutionof Texas or Section 9 ?f Article IX of the Constitutionor Article 7150 ofVernon's CLvilStatutes or in the taxing statute. We do not think that either of Lnese constitutionalprovisions or Article 7150 V.C.S., affordsanybasis for the exemption of the car owned bye Mr. Perkins from the sales tax of 1.1s imposed by Section 1 of Article 7047k, V.C.S. For property to be exempt from taxation under either of the constitutionalprovisions or the statute mentioned above as public property, itmust be publicly owned as distinguished fromprivately owned. Concededly,under the facts submitted,the car is privately owned by Mr. Perkins even thoughhe may devoteit to a public use.

The case of Texas Turnpike Company et al v. Dallas County, et al., 

### 158Tex. 474, 2'71 S.W. 2d 400 (19541,holds as follows:"Under the foregoing facts is the property

in question 'publiclyowned' so as to be exempt from taxes under ArticleXI, Section 9 of the constitution? Public ownership, for tax-exemptionpurposes,must grow out of the facts; it is a legal status,based on facts, thatmay not be created or conferredby mere legislative,or even contractual,declaration. If the statedoes not in fact own the taxable title to the property, neither the Legislature by statute,nor the petitioners and the Authority by contract,may make the state the owner thereof by simply saying that it is the owner." Moreover, we assume that Mr. Perkins is reimbursed by the county as provided in Article 6877-1,Vernon's Civil Statutesupon a maintenance and-mileagebasis as provided by said statute. In effecthe devotes the use of the car to theHon. W. G. Woods, Jr. Page No. 3 OpinionNo. WW-242

County and State in pursuinghis officialduties as deputy sheriff,but for this he is compensatedas provided by the terms of the foregoing statute.

The key definitions found in Article 7047k,V.C.S., the taxing statuteare "sale" or 'sales'\ "retail sale" or "retail sales". These are as follows:

"Sec. 3. (a)The term 'sale'or tsales' as herein used shall include installment and credit sales, and the exchange of property, as well as the sale thereof formoney, every closed transaction constitutinga sale. The transactionwhereby the possession of property Is transferredbut the seller retains title as security for the payment of the price shall be deemed a sale." "(b) The term 'retallsale' or 'retail sales' as herein used shall include all sales of motor vehicles except those whereby the purchaser acquires a motor vehicle for the exclusivepurpose of resale and not for use." It will be observed that the tax is applicable to all retail salesunless the car is bought for the exclusivepurpose of resale and not for use. The car in question is certainly not bought for the exclusivepurpose of resale, but for use. The retailmotor sales tax imposed bye Article 7O&'k,V.C.S., would, therefore,be applicable to the car ovrned by Mr. Perkins, even though he devotes it exclusively to law enforcementpurposes as deputy sheriff of Liberty County for which we assume he is reimbursedunder the terms of Article 6877-1,V.C.S.

There remains for considerationthat portion of your request dealing with accessories on the car. By the express terms of Article 704'k, V.C.S., "all accessoriesattached thereto at the time of.the sale" are for the purpose of this tax considereda part of the car and the tax would be calculatedupon the total consideration including the accessoriesattached thereto at the time of the sale. If the tires, and other equipment, such as a shortwave radio were attached to the car at the time of the sale and included in the salesprice of the car, the tax would apply~. If the accessorieswere attached after purchase and after the sale, themotor vehicle sales tax would not apply to such accessories.Hon. W. G. Woods, Jr. Page No. 4 OpinionNo. WW-242

SUMMARY A car owned by a deputy sheriffand used exclusivelyby him in connectionwith his duties as a deputy sheriff, Is subject to the Motor Vehicle Retail SalesTax imposed by Article 4047k,Vernon's Civil Statutes,and all accessories attached to the car at the time of sale are also subject to the tax. Accessories purchased and attached subsequentto the sale would not be subject to the tax imposed by the mentioned statute. The deputy sheriffmay receive reimbursement for the USC of the car as provided by Article 6877-1,Vernon's Civil Statutes, on a maintenance andmileage basis, as provided by that statute.

LPL/fb APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman Mary Kate Wall
W. R. Hemphlll Roger Daily
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: James N. Ludlum Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney Qeneral