Court Opinion

ID: 9518116
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 00:43:58.810214+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:27:28.255522
License: Public Domain

HALLOWS, C. J.
(dissenting). In sec. 77.52 (1) (a) 7, Stats., it is plainly provided that food products and beverages must be sold “by . . . , and other establishments engaged in the business of preparing food or beverages and selling for direct consumption . . .” Popcorn, to me, is not food as that word is used in this section. Besides, *275theaters are in the entertainment business and are not establishments like restaurants, cafes, bars, lunch counters and hotels. The placement of a comma in statutory construction does not have the importance or significance ascribed to it by the majority opinion. The doctrine of ejusdem generis should apply.
The sales tax statute is a limited and specialized tax and the statute is not to be given a broad interpretation. The result of the majority opinion is to take out the selectivity in the selective sales tax. If there is any ambiguity in this tax statute, it must be resolved in favor of the taxpayer, not the government. I do not think the legislature intended to tax a citizen on the purchase in the theater of the popcorn he eats while enjoying a movie. I would affirm.