Opinion ID: 2020124
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: In closing the argument for appellee, counsel appropriately quotes from the immortal bard, William Shakespeare: The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.

Text: As did Shakespeare, appellee hopes to appeal to the conscience of the court so that it may carry on its activities in full without hindrance or depreciation at the hands of the tax gatherer. To all of which the commission replies that while there may be education incident to the program of appellee, the participants in the activities of appellee are there primarily for fun, amusement and recreation and, as such, should contribute to the public revenue. Should fun and entertainment, even though educational, be taxed to help the state treasury meet the increasing demands for support and relief? This is not a question for us to answer. It is not for the courts to say who should or should not be taxed, nor who should be granted special privilege by way of exemptions. Our function is confined to the application of the rules as enacted by the legislature. III. Section 422.43, Code of Iowa, I.C.A. provides as follows: There is hereby imposed    a tax of two percent upon the gross receipts    from all sales of tickets or admissions to places of amusement   . Section 422.45 of the Code provides as follows: There are hereby specifically exempted from the provisions of this division and from the computation of the amount of tax imposed by it, the following:       The gross receipts    from educational, religious, or charitable activities, where the entire net proceeds therefrom are expended for educational, religious, or charitable purposes. This exemption statute has not been previously construed by us. The question of fact thereunder is whether or not the activities of appellee are educational within the meaning of the statute. IV. While an imposing statute must be strictly construed against the taxing authority, the trial court found, and we agree, at least part of the gross receipts were from admissions to a place of amusement, so that appellee is subject to the tax imposed by section 422.43, and any relief to the appellee must come through the exemption statute. V. While it is argued plausibly that the broad generic term charitable includes the activities of appellee, we cannot believe that the word in the statute was so intended. We accept the common understanding of the term charitable rather than an unusual, though technically correct, meaning. VI. The participants in appellee's activities undoubtedly have fun and produce entertainment. That may well be the motivating influence with many, but that does not change the meaning of the word educational nor detract from the educational value of an activity. We are not attempting to place the stamp of judicial approval upon unnecessary frills in scholastic curricula but we do say that wholesome entertainment or enjoyment does not necessarily detract from education. Attractive packaging is big business today. Attractive packaging does not impair the educational value of a mental stimulant.