Opinion ID: 1592031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the ascension parish ordinances

Text: The Ascension Parish Sales Tax District No. 2 Sales and Use Tax ordinance was adopted on August 18, 1994, and is representative of the five ordinances that form the basis of Ascension Parish's claim against Word of Life. [19] The pertinent language mimics the state legislation: Section 3.02. It is not the intention of this ordinance to levy a tax upon articles of tangible personal property imported into the [parish] . . . for export; nor is it the intention of this ordinance to levy a tax on bona fide interstate commerce. It is, however, the intention of this ordinance to levy a tax on the sale at retail, the use, the consumption, the distribution and the storage to be used or consumed in the [parish], of tangible personal property after it has come to rest in the [parish] and has become a part of the mass of property in the [parish]. In this matter, the language of the ordinance must be evaluated because it is the ordinance upon which Ascension Parish relies to impose the tax. Considering the above quoted portion of the ordinance, it is obvious that the parochial taxing authority adopts the taxable moment analysis stated in La. R.S. 47:305(E). Applying that analysis to the facts of this case, it appears that the airplanes purchased by Word of Life are not subject to the Ascension Parish use tax because there was never a taxable moment for either airplane in that parish. For Airplanes I and II, a taxable moment occurred, and the planes were subject to Louisiana's use tax, at the moment that they reached the end of their interstate transportation to Louisiana and had not yet begun to be used in interstate commerce. This moment occurred in East Baton Rouge Parish. Both airplanes were purchased out-of-state and flown to East Baton Rouge Parish where they were hangared. Airplane I never landed in Ascension Parish because initially the landing strip was too small. Although Airplane II was purchased in April of 1998, its first flight to Ascension Parish was not until June of that year. Thereafter, Airplane II traveled to Ascension Parish on a substantial number of occasions, primarily to load and unload passengers. The use in Ascension Parish of Airplane II was a pass through use, involving only a brief stop in Ascension Parish before the flight, which was often an interstate flight, was continued. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301(18) defines use as the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property incident to ownership thereof. In post-argument brief to this court, the Ascension Parish taxing authority argues that the exercise of any right or power over tangible personal property (the taxable act) is, by definition, citing La. C.C. art. 473, an incorporeal movable that, in the absence of a physical location, must be attributed to the place of incorporation, or domicile, of a corporation. Ascension Parish argues that the use of Airplanes I and II occurred in that parish because it is from that location that dominion over the planes was exercised and decisions were made as to when and where they would fly and where they would be hangared when not in use. The taxing authority's conclusion that taxes can be levied on both airplanes under this theory is in error. The relevant parish ordinances evidence an intent to impose a use tax on tangible personal property after it has come to rest in the parish and become a part of the mass of property in the parish. The phrase come to rest clearly connotes a physical presence in the parish, a requirement which is echoed in the phrase that follows, and has become a part of the mass of property in the parish. Yet, Airplane I never landed in Ascension Parish. Airplane II did stop in Ascension Parish, some three months after its purchase, to take on and/or unload passengers, but at that point the airplane's use in interstate commerce had already commenced, and the taxable moment had come to an end. Moreover, both airplanes were hangared in East Baton Rouge Parish. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301(15) defines storage as any keeping or retention in this state of tangible personal property for use or consumption in this state or for any purpose other than for sale at retail in the regular course of business. Thus, storage is use and this occurred in East Baton Rouge Parish, not in Ascension Parish. Contrary to the suggestion of the Ascension Parish taxing authority, nothing indicates that the courts should consider domicile of the corporation to override the taxable moment provisions of La. R.S. 47:305(E) and the Ascension Parish ordinances. The legislature, in its discretion, may include considerations of domicile within a tax statute itself. Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:301(1)(f) provides, for the purposes of the imposition of the sales and use tax of any political subdivision, the sale of a vehicle subject to the Vehicle Registration License Tax Law (La. R.S. 47:451, et seq. ) shall be deemed to be a retail sale [i]n the political subdivision of the principal residence of the purchaser if the vehicle is purchased for private use or [i]n the political subdivision of the principal location of the business if the vehicle is purchased for commercial use, unless the vehicle purchased for commercial use is assigned, garaged, and used outside of such political subdivision.  (Emphasis supplied.) Although that tax statute specifically applies to motor vehicles, there is no similar provision for aircraft, thus making Ascension Parish's focus on domicile of the corporation irrelevant. As this tax provision for the sale of motor vehicles indicates, if the legislature wants the tax to apply at the domicile, such legislation can be enacted. Additionally, the section of the Ascension Parish ordinance entitled Exemptions and Exclusions from Tax contains a brief but significant provision: Section 3.03. No tax shall be due under this ordinance on the sale of any goods or personal tangible property delivered . . . outside the territorial limits of the [parish]. This provision immediately follows the Section 3.02 provision that the use tax applies to tangible personal property after it has come to rest in the parish and after it has become a part of the mass of property in the parish. It is undisputed that the two airplanes were delivered to East Baton Rouge Parish after the sale to Word of Life. This section of the ordinance further indicates that the physical location of tangible personal property, not the domicile of the purchaser, is the critical consideration for the purposes of imposing the parish tax at issue. Our role is not to legislate, but to apply the law as it is written. See La. C.C. arts. 1 and 2. In this case, the plain language of the parish taxing provisions establishes that the use tax authorized by the relevant ordinances is imposed on tangible personal property after it has come to rest in the taxing jurisdiction and has become a part of the mass of property in the jurisdiction. Because, for Airplanes I and II, the taxable moment contemplated by the parish ordinances did not occur in Ascension Parish, Ascension Parish does not have the statutory authority to impose a use tax on either airplane.