Court Opinion

ID: 9634654
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:19:15.19072+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:03.579925
License: Public Domain

Robert L. Brown, Justice, concurring. I agree with the majority opinion that the chancellor’s order should be affirmed. Flowever, I am unpersuaded by the majority’s futile attempt to distinguish the case of Bosworth v. Pledger, 305 Ark. 598, 810 S.W.2d 918 (1991), from this case. Thus, I find it necessary to analyze Ghegan’s equal protection argument. In Bosworth, supra, we examined the constitutionality of a 1987 Act of the General Assembly which excepted WATS long distance telephone service from the state sales tax. The appellants argued that this discriminated against long distance subscribers who did not subscribe to the WATS service. We examined the question of whether the imposition of the long distance tax discriminated among individuals or whether discrimination did not occur because individuals were simply choosing a different long distance service which was available to any customer. We said: Appellees argue that the threshold element of classification of individuals is not met because the only distinction made by the statute is between services, not people. Appellees cite Potts v. McCastlain, 240 Ark. 654, 401 S.W.2d 220 (1966), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 946 (1967), where this court upheld a privilege tax imposed on taxicabs but not on other vehicles using the same streets. They argue that as long as all “regular” long distance subscribers are taxed the same, just as all taxicab operators were taxed the same, there is no differentiation among individuals, all being treated equal. In addition, appellees cite the chancellor’s finding that “all three types of service — MTS, private line, and WATS — are available to any customer; there are no eligibility requirements,” to bolster their argument that this is a tax imposed on services, not individuals. Although it is true that the tax is imposed on one type of long distance service and not another, it is also true that taxes are paid by individuals, and the record reflects that subscribers to “regular” long distance service pay the tax, while subscribers to WATS service do not. This disparate treatment under the statute of classes of individuals is sufficient to raise the equal protection challenge and require our further analysis. Bosworth, 305 Ark. at 604, 810 S.W.2d at 920-21. Similarly, in the case at bar, the Tax Code provides that the distributor of the soft drinks is taxed, not the product: (a) There is hereby levied and there shall be collected a tax upon every distributor, manufacturer, or wholesale dealer, to be calculated as follows: (1) Two dollars ($2.00) per gallon for each gallon of soft drink syrup or simple syrup sold or offered for sale in the State of Arkansas; (2) Twenty-one cents (210) per gallon for each gallon of botded soft drinks sold or offered for sale in the State of Arkansas; (3) Where a package or container of powder or other base product, other than a syrup or simple syrup, is sold or offered for sale in Arkansas, and the powder is for the purpose of producing a liquid soft drink, then the tax on the sale of each package or container shall be equal to twenty-one cents (21 ¡t) for each gallon of soft drink which may be produced from each package or container by following the manufacturer’s directions. This tax applies when the sale of the powder or other base is sold to a retailer for sale to the ultimate consumer after the liquid soft drink is produced by the retailer. Ark. Code Ann. § 26-57-904(a) (Repl. 1997). Moreover, although all retailers are taxed a certain amount depending upon the product purchased, there appears to be disparate treatment among the amounts taxed, that is, $2.00 per gallon of syrup regardless of the amount of product produced; $ .21 per gallon for each gallon of botded soft drink sold or offered for sale; and $ .21 for each gallon of soft drink that may be produced from powder pursuant to the manufacturer’s directions. This disparate treatment among retailers is sufficient, in my judgment, to raise Ghegan’s equal protection challenge. In Medlock v. Leathers, 311 Ark. 175, 842 S.W.2d 428 (1992), this court discussed the power to tax and classifications which invidiously discriminate: “Inherent in the power to tax is the power to discriminate in taxation.” Leathers, _U.S. at_, 111 S. Ct. at 1446. Courts should defer to local legislative determinations as to the desirability of imposing discriminatory measures. City of New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297 (1976). A court will not strike down a classification merely because it is underinclusive. The law must be “purely arbitrary” in its classification; thus the only classification not allowed in taxing is invidious discrimination. Id. If a taxation statute discriminates in favor of one class it is not determined to be arbitrary so long as the discrimination is based upon a reasonable distinction, and if there is any hypothesized set of facts to uphold a rational basis. Streight v. Ragland, 280 Ark. 206, 655 S.W.2d 459 (1983). Appellants argue that hypothesizing a rational basis, as in Streight, should be beyond the power of this court. We view hypothesizing a rational basis the same as conceiving a rational basis; a practice that is available to the courts without question. We point to the language of Streight and conclude that any rational basis for a taxation statute may be developed at any time. In any event, the judiciary is allowed to hypothesize and . . . reach a conceivable basis for the exemptions which [it] conclude^] are rational, reasonably distinctive and not arbitrary. It causes us to defer to legislative purpose because there is a rational basis for the tax. . . . Before it is said that such hypothesizing is far afield, we re-emphasize that our role is not to discover the actual basis for the legislation. Our task is merely to consider if any rational basis exists which demonstrates the possibility of a deliberate nexus with state objectives so that the legislation is not the product of utterly arbitrary and capricious government and void of any hint of deliberate and lawful purpose. Streight, 280 Ark. at 214-15, 655 S.W.2d at 464. Medlock, 311 Ark. at 179-80, 842 S.W.2d at 430-31. In the case before us, the chancellor concluded that “administrative convenience” qualified as a rational basis for treating the taxation of syrup, powder, and soft drinks differently: Clearly, the legislature could have assumed that taxing syrup by the gallon would have been easier to administer at the time the law was enacted. In fact, the testimony of Mr. Wright supported the State’s argument. Syrup is sold only in one or five gallon measures, thereby making the tax quite simple to calculate. Bottled drinks are sold in cans and a variety of sizes of bottles, but each container exhibits the volume of the soft drink. Soft drinks made from powders are sold in numerous and various containers and weights. Since there are somewhat limited taxpayers, the calculation of the number of gallons of soft drink produced has been easier. However, there is nothing in the record to indicate the General Assembly was aware of the ease with which gallons of soft drink could be calculated. The General Assembly could have concluded that gallons of syrup would be easy to calculate and tax, and that gallons of bottled soft drink would be easy to calculate and tax, but that gallons of soft drink produced by powders that vary greatly in weight and mixing instructions might be more difficult to compute. The court’s task is not to discover the actual basis for the legislation but to determine whether there is any rational basis for the classification. In my opinion, the chancellor correctly found a reasonable basis for the disparate treatment in taxing distributors who use different soft drink products. For that reason, I, too, would affirm the chancellor’s order upholding the tax.