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EIICATTORNEY GENERAL

OFTEXAS

Honorable George R. Sheppard Comptroller of-FubllcAccounts Austin, Texas

Dear Sir: OpinionNO. o-6914 Re: Whethen under Article 7070, receipts from rural accounts outside of incorporatedtowns are to be taxedunder the 14 per cent tax bracket.

Your letter of October 31, 1945, reads as follows:
"Section 1 of Article 7070, R.C.S. 1925 provides:

"'Each individual, company, corporation,or association owning, operating,managing,
or controllfng any telephone line or lines, or'ang telephoneswlthin this State and charging for the use of same, shallmake qu.arterly,

on the first day of January, April, July and October of eachyear, a report to the Comptroller,under oath of the indivldual, or of the president, treasurer, or superintendentof such compaw, corporation or association, showing the gross amount recefved from all buslness within this State during the preceding quarter in the payment of charges for the use of its line or lfnes, telephone and telephones,and from the lease or use of any wires or equipmentwithin this State during said quarter, Said fndiviauais, companies, corporations,and associations, at the time ofmaking said report, shall pay to the State Treasurer, and there is hereby leviedupon said individuals,companies, corporations,and associations,
an occupation tax for the quarter beginning
on said date, equal to one and one-half (l*]per cent of the gross receipts,, as shownby said report, received from doing business outside of incorporatedcities and towns and within incorporated citfesHonorable George H. Sheppard,page 2 o-6914

and towns of less than two thousand, five hundred (2,500) Inhabitants,according to the last preceding Federal Census; an occupationtax for the quarter beginning on said date, equal to one and three-fourths (1 3/h) per cent of said~ gross receipts as shownby said report, received from aoing businesswithin lncorporated cities and towns of more than two thousand, five hundred (2,500) inhabitants, and not more than ten thousand (lO,OOO) inhabitants,according to the last preceding Federal Census; an occupation tax for the quarter beginning on said date, equal to two and two hundred seventy-fivethousandths (2.275)per cent of saidgross receipts, as shownby said report, received from doing business within Incorporatedcities and towns of
more than ten thousand (10,000)inhabitants, according to the last preceding Federal Census.'

ìf l * *
"Pleasetellme if all rural accounts outside of incorporated towns (regardlessof the population of the incorporated town)would come under the one and one-half (14) tax bracket? There are cases of army camps that are located six, eight or tenmiles outside of incorporated towns of ten thousand (10,000) population OPmore that are servicedby the exchange within the Incorporated town,"

We call your particular attention to the language of the statute that the occupation tax shallbe "equalto one and onehalf (13)per cent of the gross receipts, D e 0received from doing business outside of incorporated cities and towns and within incorporated cities and towns of less than two thousand, five hundred (2,500) inhabitants."

The receipts from all business done outside the limits of incorporated cities and towns, regardless of the size of such incorporated cities, comewlthin the basic bracket of one and onehalf per cent.Honorable George H. Sheppard,page 3 o-6914

Yours very truly

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By s/ArthurL. Moller Arthur.~L.

Moller Assistant
ALM/JCP/wc

APPROVED NOV 8, 1945 s/Carlos C.Ashley FIRST ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL Approved Opinion Committeeby s/BWB Chairman