Title: Shinn v. Heath
Citation: 535 S.W.2d 57
Docket Number: 75-284
State: Arkansas
Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court
Date: April 12, 1976

535 S.W.2d 57 (1976) Ben SHINN et ux., Appellants, v. Richard HEATH, Director of the Department of Finance and Administration of the State of Arkansas, Appellee. No. 75-284. Supreme Court of Arkansas. April 12, 1976. *58 Chambers &amp; Chambers by Melvin T. Chambers, Magnolia, for appellants. James R. Cooper, H. Ray Hodnett, Robert G. Brockman and James R. Eads, Jr., Little Rock, for appellee. JONES, Justice. This is an appeal by Ben Shinn and his wife from an adverse decree of the chancery court on a petition they filed for the return of $6,461.65 in income taxes assessed for 1967 through 1970 and paid under protest. The question on this appeal is whether the appellants were residents of Arkansas and liable for income tax under the Income Tax Act of 1929, Ark.Stat.Ann. § 84-2001, et seq. (Repl.1960). Under § 84-2003 an income tax is imposed upon every individual resident of Arkansas and § 84-2002(9) and (10) defines resident and nonresident as follows: The appellants were born and reared in Arkansas and the substance of their testimony was to the effect that for the past several years they have been engaged in building and selling motels, primarily in the State of Texas. It was their contention that their residence for tax purposes followed their occupation, in that they lived in the motels they would construct until the motel was sold and they would then move on to a new location and build and sell another motel. It was their contention, and they so testified, that they maintained a mailing address in Magnolia, Arkansas, and would return to Magnolia periodically to pick up their mail from a post office box they maintained in Magnolia. All of their relatives lived in and around Magnolia. Some of the motels were sold before they were finished and in other instances the motels were built and operated by the appellants until they were sold. Mr. and Mrs. Shinn filed Arkansas income tax returns for 1967 and gave their home address as "Post Office Box 338, Magnolia, Columbia County, Arkansas." In 1968 the Shinns filed a "nonresident (resident for part of year)" income tax return in Louisiana for 1967 and showed their home address as Box 338, Magnolia, Arkansas. Their 1968 and 1969 federal and state income tax returns showed the same address. On January 19, 1975, Mr. Shinn registered to vote in Arkansas and on his affidavit for registration he designated his home address as 916 Highland, Magnolia, and after designating his school district and voting precinct *59 in Magnolia, he stated he had lived at that address for eight years. According to Mr. and Mrs. Shinns' testimony, most of their time was spent in and around Tyler, Texas. They said that in 1969 they contemplated building a home in Tyler, but the motel business took them to other parts of Texas and they never did buy a lot or build a home in Tyler. They said they owned a house in Magnolia from 1962 until they sold it in 1970, but they never did live in the house. They said the house in Magnolia was unfurnished; that the house was under construction for about 18 months while they were in and out of Magnolia; that it was never furnished and that they sold it unfurnished. They said that since that time, however, [apparently since 1970] they have built a home in Magnolia. Mr. Shinn said the reason they did not furnish the original house in Magnolia was that a banker from whom he borrowed money in Tyler, Texas, insisted that they settle down in Tyler, and they were thinking of doing so. He said he had been building and selling motels in Texas since 1959; that he maintained an office in a trailer on the job site while a motel was under construction and he would move it from job to job in various towns where he constructed motels. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shinn had Arkansas driver's licenses which they had kept and renewed through the years. Mr. Shinn said he would be unable to pass a driver's examination in Texas. Mr. Shinn said he registered to vote in Arkansas for the purpose of obtaining a liquor permit in connection with a motel he had built in Texarkana, Arkansas, while living across the state line in Texas. He said that while they kept the house in Magnolia from 1967 to 1970, he had a next-door neighbor look after it and mow the lawn. He said he never did vote in Arkansas and had no intention of doing so when he executed his voter registration affidavit. Mr. Shinn said he did not know what address J. W. put on his income tax returns.[1] Mr. Shinn then testified in part as follows: Mrs. Shinn testified that from January to May, 1967, they were in Manny, Louisiana; from May 1 to September 21, 1967, they were in Arkansas and were unemployed during that time. She said that from September, 1967, to June, 1968, they were in Sherman, Texas; that following vacation in 1968 they were in Tyler, Texas, from August, 1968, to August, 1969; that from August, 1969, to December, 1969, they were in Greenville, Texas; that the motel jobs they had in Greenville and Tyler overlapped and that while they were operating the motel in Tyler before they sold it, they began construction on one in Greenville. She said that following their vacation in 1970, they were in Alexandria, Louisiana, from February to July; that they were on vacation in August, 1970, and were in Texarkana from September, 1970, to March, 1971. She said they were building a motel in Texarkana, Arkansas, but were living in Texarkana, Texas. She said they lived in furnished apartments much of the time and owned no furniture. On cross-examination Mrs. Shinn said that when they built the house in Magnolia *60 in 1962, they thought they would live there. She said they kept the house and did not rent it until 1970 when they sold it. She said she also had an Arkansas driver's license and had purchased it in Arkansas when she began to drive and had maintained it ever since. Referring to the house built in Magnolia in 1962, Mrs. Shinn testified as follows: We deem it unnecessary to discuss the testimony further for the reason that this case actually turns on the statutory definition of who is a resident for tax purposes under the above statute. The appellants have designated the points on which they rely for reversal as follows: In defining the word "resident" within the meaning of the statute here involved, the appellants rely on the general definition as set out in Shelton v. Shelton, 180 Ark. 959, 23 S.W.2d 629 (1930), and Jarrell v. Leeper, 178 Ark. 6, 9 S.W.2d 778 (1928), rather than as specifically defined in § 84-2002(9)(10), supra. The Shelton case involved the appointment of administrator and the question was whether the administrator was a resident of the county in which he was appointed. The statute under which the appointment was made, Crawford &amp; Moses' Digest, § 5, recited in part as follows: This court quoted from Krone v. Cooper, 43 Ark. 547 (1884), in the Shelton case, as follows: In Shelton we found that the trial court correctly held that the decedent resided at Brinkley, Monroe County, at the time of his death, and that the trial court did not err in holding the letters void. In Shelton we cited other cases in which the words "resident" and "residence" were defined for the various purposes pertaining to the case involved and in doing so we said: If the appellants in the case at bar were relying on the definition of residence for purposes of listing property for taxation, as set out in Smith v. Union County, and cited in Shelton, the statute applicable to Smith v. Union County clearly distinguishes the meaning in that case from the definition applicable in the case at bar. Crawford &amp; Moses' Digest, § 9890, provided as follows: In Krone v. Cooper, supra, cited in Shelton, the action was an attachment on a judgment in personam and in that case this court further said: The Civil Code pertaining to attachments, as brought forward in Ark.Stat.Ann. § 31-101 (Repl.1962), simply refers to "residents" and "nonresidents" without further definition. Jarrell v. Leeper, supra, relied on by the appellants, was also an attachment case and in that case this court said: The statute here involved, § 84-2002(9) and (10), supra, defines a resident for tax purposes under subsection (9) as any person domiciled in the state of Arkansas and also any person who maintains a permanent place of abode within the state and spends in the aggregate more than six months of the taxable year within the state. Subsection (10) defines a nonresident as a person whose domicile is without the state of Arkansas, or who maintains a place of abode without the state, and spends in the aggregate more than six months of the taxable year without the state. Although the appellants contend that they were not domiciled in Arkansas, they argue that the statutory requirement of spending more than six months of the taxable year in Arkansas makes the place of their domicile unimportant. The second exclusion of subsection (10), appellants, argue, "excludes those who maintain a place of abode outside of the *62 State and spend more than six (6) months of the taxable year outside the state." Actually the appellants failed to prove that they maintained any particular place of abode outside of Arkansas, they did maintain such place of abode in Magnolia but testified they did not abide there. In any event, to adopt the construction advocated by the appellants would put the two subsections into conflict. Subsection (9) makes "any person domiciled in the State of Arkansas" a resident. The primary rule in the construction of statutes is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature. Duty v. City of Rogers &amp; Benton Cty., 255 Ark. 309, 500 S.W.2d 347 (1973). In determining legislative intent, the courts look to the language of the whole statute or Act. John B. May Co., Inc. v. McCastlain, Comm'r, 244 Ark. 495, 426 S.W.2d 158 (1968). In order to give effect to every part of a statute, it is the court's duty, as far as practicable, to reconcile the different provisions so as to make them consistent, harmonious and sensible. McLeod v. Santa Fe Trail Transp. Co., 205 Ark. 225, 168 S.W.2d 413 (1943). To carry out the general purpose and intent of a statute, either civil or criminal, the words "and" and "or" are convertible. Williams v. State, 99 Ark. 149, 137 S.W. 927 (1911); Pickens-Bond Const. Co. v. N. L. R. Elec. Co., 249 Ark. 389, 459 S.W.2d 549 (1970). Subsection (10), supra, can be made consistent with subsection (9) by reading the "or" which follows "State of Arkansas" as an "and." Even so, the case at bar falls within the purview of what we said in Cravens v. Cook, Comm'r, 212 Ark. 71, 204 S.W.2d 909 (1947). In that case it was stipulated that Congressman Cravens was domiciled in Arkansas but that he maintained a place of abode in Washington and that he spent more than six months each year without the state. In rejecting his contention that he was exempt under the last clause of subsection (10), supra, this court said: We have accepted "place of abode" and "residence" as synonymous terms within the context of an insurance policy. Central Mfr's Mut. Ins. Co. v. Friedman, 213 Ark. 9, 209 S.W.2d 102 (1948). But we have held that "domicile" and "residence" are not synonymous terms since "residence" denotes an act, and "domicile" denotes an act coupled with an intent. Jarrell v. Leeper, supra. In Leflar, Conflict of Laws, § 10, is found the following language: See also Restatement (2d) of Conflicts of Laws, §§ 11-20 (1971). In Phillips v. Sherrod Estate, 248 Ark. 605, 453 S.W.2d 60 (1970), this court said: In Charisse v. Eldred, 252 Ark. 101, 477 S.W.2d 480 (1972), a case involving residential qualifications to vote and run for office under an election statute, the word "residence" was treated as synonymous with "domicile" in the context of the statute, but in that case we held that the question of intent (to make a certain place one's domicile) is one of fact to be ascertained not only by the statements of the person involved, but by his conduct as well. The chancellor in the case at bar determined that the appellants were residents of Arkansas, and that determination is sustained by evidence in the record. Although the appellants contend that they were physically located outside of Arkansas, numerous documents prepared by appellants listed Arkansas as their address. Furthermore, appellants had Arkansas driver's licenses and they owned a house in Arkansas which they did not rent. Mr. Shinn registered to vote in Arkansas in 1970 and declared that Arkansas had been their residence for the eight previous years. The appellants lived at no place outside Arkansas with the intent, or even the stated intent, of staying there. The appellants argue that they did not intend Arkansas to be their residence, but in Charisse v. Eldred, supra, we said: The appellants' contention that they were entitled to a "commercial domicile" for income tax purposes under Ark.Stat. Ann. § 84-2051 et seq. (Supp.1975) is without merit. That statute applies to income "from business activity which is taxable both within and without this state." (§ 84-2056). There was no evidence in the case at bar the appellants paid any income tax in the State of Texas or that Texas even had an income tax law. See Collins v. Skelton, 256 Ark. 955, 512 S.W.2d 542 (1974). The decree is affirmed. FOGLEMAN, J., concurs in the result. BYRD, J., dissents. [1] The returns show that J. W. Powell of Magnolia, Arkansas, made out the returns.