Court Opinion

ID: 9816050
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 02:35:09.043351+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:51.412714
License: Public Domain

WEIS,
dissenting
The Territorial Court and the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands read the licensing provisions as a whole and construed them to be generally directed to business entities, partnerships, and corporations, rather than to individual employees. I agree and would affirm.
The statute says in very broad terms that "[e]very person or association wishing to engage in any business, occupation, profession, or trade listed in § 302" must obtain a license. VI. Code Ann. tit. 27, § 301(a) (1997). In turn, § 302 lists several hundred occupations, services, professions, and callings, including such diverse classifications as itinerant vendors, judo instructors, machine *484shops (but not machinists), masonry contractors (but not masons), master plumbers, modeling agencies (but not models), pharmacies (but not pharmacists), public accountants, and attorneys. Section 302 includes restaurants classified by the number of tables, but does not list cooks or waiters.
The fees for § 302 licenses range from $10 for a temporary barber to $2,000 for business management or consulting firms representing 100 or more foreign service corporations. As a catchall, § 302(b) provides that "[a]ny person or association engaged in a business, occupation, profession, or trade" not listed "or not covered by any other provision of this Code shall obtain an annual license at a fee of $100."
Despite the majority's view to the contrary, the statute, on its face, applies to every person who receives compensation from an "occupation" as well as to those individuals who engage in a business, profession, or trade. The only exemptions are those specified in § 306 for governmental, religious, charitable, benevolent, and educational organizations.
Despite the broad language in §§ 301 and 302, the government does not contend that the licensing statute was intended to cover such an all encompassing swath of the working population. Indeed, the government disclaims such an expansive interpretation. The simple language construction adopted by the majority, therefore, has been rejected by the licensing body itself.
From the record, it appears that the government has not enforced the wording of the catchall clause, rather it has pursued a policy of licensing business entities instead of their employees. For example, the Territorial Court observed that, in a prior proceeding, an official of the Consumer Service Administration (entrusted with enforcement of the statute) testified that although travel agents are listed in § 302, they "are not required to be licensed, unless they possess an ownership interest in the business for which they work, because they are not professionals, but merely employees." Smith v. Magras, Civ. No. 167/1993, 1993 WL 566406 at *5 (Terr. Ct. V.I. Dec. 17, 1993).
The statute itself, in §§ 301(b) and (c), requires that an application for a license be made on a form furnished by the Commissioner of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. Applicants must pro*485vide information about their personal history, experience, business record, and criminal record. In designating who should submit .applications, § 301(b) states that "[i]n the case of corporations or partnerships the preceding requirements" apply to "all of the shareholders or partners." In all cases, "such requirements shall be applicable to the actual owners and not merely to the nominal owners." Id.
Significantly, employees of corporations and partnerships are not listed among those who must submit information. Thus, in the case of a corporation, as the statute reads, a shareholder must submit personal data, but the president, who is merely an employee, need not. Similarly, as to partnerships, the statute makes no mention of "employee." Subsection 301(c), however, provides that a corporation or partnership application "shall designate each member, officer, or employee who will exercise the powers to be conferred by the license upon such partnership or corporation." This subsection does not in any way require an employee to apply for a license.
Although the Commissioner now takes the position that all lawyers in private practice must pay the license because it is personal to them, that principle has not been consistently applied. As the district court noted, in the past, the Commissioner had not required an attorney to pay a licensing fee "unless the attorney had an ownership interest in the law partnership or corporation by which she was employed." Magras v. Smith, 940 F. Supp. 124, 129 (D.C.V.I. 1996).
To adopt the Commissioner's current position that a license is personal would mean that an automobile mechanic who is employed by a repair shop (which must be licensed under § 302(a)) must also obtain a license for his occupation or trade under § 302(b). Similarly, a carpenter employed by a large construction firm would have to obtain an individual license, as would a clerk in a retail establishment. That, however, is not what the Commissioner's practice is, or has been.
The Commissioner's litigation posture in an earlier case in this Court is revealing. Section 306 exempts "agencies of the Virgin Islands or of the United States Government, [ ] religious, charitable, benevolent, or educational associations." Significantly, that section *486does not mention "employees" of such institutions. However, in Hollar v. Government of the Virgin Islands, 857 F.2d 163, 171 (3d Cir. 1988), the government argued that because they are merely employees of various agencies, government attorneys fall under the blanket exclusion.
Additionally, the Commissioner contended that government attorneys were only employees because their pre-determined salaries did not depend on the attorneys' caseload or success rate. See Smith, 1993 WL 566406 at *4 (discussing the Commissioner's arguments in Hollar). That latter comment, of course, is irrelevant and, in any event, may well be said of an associate attorney employed by a law firm.
To be consistent, the Commissioner's position that an attorney working for a government salary is an employee and, as such, not subject to the tax, should carry over to an employee lawyer of a law firm who similarly should not be obligated to obtain a license. The exemption of employee lawyers is what the government successfully advanced in Hollar and that status should apply to plaintiffs here as well.
The district court's conclusion that the statute should be construed to apply only to partners in law firms or sole practitioners who have a proprietary interest is, I believe, the proper reading. The district court's construction pays due fealty to the canon of construing the statute as a whole, gives due regard to the government's consistent application over the years, and results in a rational interpretation of the legislation. I would affirm.
APPENDIX
§ 302 Same; business, occupations, professions and trades covered; fees
(a) The following annual license fees are made applicable to and shall be levied upon all persons and associations engaged in the designated businesses, occupations, professions and trades in the Virgin Islands of the United States:
Additional place of brokers business $ 50
Advertising 150
Air cargo transportation 500
*487Air charter service per plan $ 100
Air conditioning and refrigeration repair shop 125
Answering service 75
Apartment house A, more than 12 units 250
Apartment house B, 9-12 units 220
Apartment house C, 5-8 units 150
Apartment house D, 4 or less units 100
Appliance repair shop 100
Appraiser 100
Armored car service 300
Artist studios 100
Astrology service 100
Attorney 500
Auto cleaning and polishing service 100
Automobile towing service 100
Automobile undercoating 100
Automotive inspection and diagnostic services 100
Automobile mechanical road service 100
Baby sitting service 100
Baggage, cargo, mail handling 225
Bakery 200
Barber 50
Barber apprentice 25
Barber shop initial issuance 150
Barber shop renewal 75
Barber temporary 10
Battery and ignition repair 100
Beach club 100
Beautician apprentice 30
Beautician temporary 10
Beauty school 200
Beauty shop initial issuance 150
Beauty shop renewal 75
Billiard table per table 30
Blasting service 150
Blender, bottler of alcohol beverages 800
Boat building and repair 125
Boat charter service per boat 100
*488Boat rental $ 100
Bookkeeping services 100
Bowling alley 300
Bus transportation per bus 50
Business and management consultant 300
Business courses and related training 250
Business Management or Consulting Firm for Foreign
Sales Corporations:
Firms managing or consulting for less than 5 Foreign Sale Corporations 500
Firms managing or consulting for at least 5 but less than 100 Foreign Sales Corporations 1,000
Firms managing or consulting for 100 or more Foreign Sales Corporations 2,000
Butchery 300
Cable car sightseeing tours 125
Cable splicing and related work 150
Cable television and antenna service 150
Car leasing 100
Car Rental A— 0 to 20 vehicles 200
Car Rental B— 21 to 50 vehicles 300
Car Rental C— more than 50 vehicles 400
Carpentry contractor 75
Carpet laying and related services 125
Catering service 100
Certified public accounting 300
Charm school 100
Check room service 50
Claim adjusters 150
Clinical laboratory 300
Club liquor license 200
Cockfighting 500
Coffee shop and ice cream parlor 100
Coin operated car wash 100
Commercial art services 100
Commercial boat, freight or passengers 100
Commercial breeding services 100
Commercial diver 100
*489Commercial kennel $ 100
Commercial laundry 200
Commercial school 250
Commercial warehousing 150
Commodity exchange clearing house 300
Common carrier int. telecommunication 150
Communication equipment inst. contractor 150
Communication equipment oper. contractor 150
Concrete pumping 250
Construction contractor 200
Consultation and related therapy services 125
Copyright protection service 100
Cottage rental 100
Credit bureau and collection agency 200
Customs and visa preparations service 100
Dance studio 50
Dealer in explosives Public Safety 500
Dental laboratory 350
Development and sale of own property 75
Discotheque— same as night club
Documentation services for vessels steam ship agent 150
Dog grooming shop 100
Draftsman 75
Driving school 200
Dry cleaning 200
Dry docking services 200
Drywall— sheetrock installation contractor 75
Electrical contractor 100
Electronic security consultant 150
Employment agency 100
Escort service 200
Exterminating and pest control 150
Fiduciary services 100
Fingerprint services 100
Firearms and ammunition— distributor or wholesaler 1,000
Firearms and ammunition— retail sales 550
Firearms and ammunition— gunsmith 500
Fire prevention service 100
*490Fireproofing contractor license $ 150
Florist 150
Flower conserv. and agricultural nursery 100
Flying school 250
Foreign Sales Corporation 100
Free lance photographer 100
Garage and repair shops 200
Garbage removal 100
Gasoline station 250
General aviation service and maintenance 125
General manufacturing— glass 150
General manufacturing— food 150
General manufacturing— tobacco 150
General manufacturing— textile 150
General manufacturing— clothes 150
General manufacturing— public printing 150
General manufacturing— chemical 150
General manufacturing— petroleum 1,000
General manufacturing— rubber 1,000
General manufacturing— leather 150
General manufacturing— metal 500
General manufacturing— fabricated metal 500
General manufacturing— machinery 500
General manufacturing— electrical machinery 500
General manufacturing— transportation equipment 300
General manufacturing— watches 350
General manufacturing— miscellaneous 300
Glass tinting contractors 75
Golf course 150
Guard dog service 100
Hair removal service 75
Health club or spa 300
Holding company 200
Hotel and guest house A— over 100 beds 400
Hotel and guest house B— over 40-99 beds 300
Hotel and guest house C— 1-39 beds 200
Hotelkeeper— liquor 200
Hypnotism consultant 100
*491Ice manufacturing $ 250
Importer of goods for resale 200
Information and data processing services 100
Installation of equipment 75
Installation of fences 75
Installation of fire and burglary alarm systems 200
Interior decorating 100
Investment advisory service 200
Investment brokerage 400
Itinerant vendor license 50
Janitorial service and supply 150
Jewelry and watch repair shop 100
Judo instructor 100
Karate instructor 100
Kindergarten school 200
Landscaping consultant 100
Landscaping, garden, maintenance service 100
Laundromat 200
Laundry pickup and delivery service 100
Leasing of plants 100
Lie detection service 100
Liquor wholesalers license 400
Machine shop 100
Manicurist apprentice 10
Manufacturers of aerated waters 150
Manicurist 75
Marine biological supplies 100
Marine salvage and Rel underwater service 150
Marine surveyor and blasting service 150
Marine surveyor and consultant 150
Masonry contractor 75
Massage parlor 150
Master electrician 100
Master plumber 100
Media advertising, promotion and production 200
Medical laboratory 300
Messenger and delivery service 100
Misc. amusement devices 150
*492Mobilfood service $ 100
Mobe refreshment stand 75
Meling agency 100
Mortgage banker 200
Mortgage broker 400
Motion picture distribution 150
Motion picture theater 500
Motor vehicle dealer 500
Moving and freight forwarding services 200
Music recording and sales business 200
Nickelodeon per machine 30
Night club license 700
Nutrition and consulting services 100
Oceanographic research and development 100
Out patient care facility 100
Owners representative coordinator 100
Painting contractor 75
Paralegal services 100
Parking lot vehicle 100
Pharmacy 300
Photocopying services 75
Photographic processing or studio 50
Piano technician 100
Pin ball and similar machines per machine . 50
Plastering contractor 75
Plumbing contractor 100
Pollution control services 100
Poultry farm— agriculture
Prime distillers of alcoholic beverages 1,500
Printing and publishing house 250
Private elementary/secondary school 200
Production of milk and milk products 125
Project coordinator/consultant 75
Public accountant 120
Public auctioneer 100
Public dance license 25
Public relations services 100
Public title reporter 100
*493Radio and television repair shop $ 100
Radio advertising, promotion and production 200
Radio station 500
Real estate broker 250
Real estate salesman 200
Real estate salesman— temporary 100
Real estate— change business place 50
Real estate— change of associate 50
Red cap porter service 50
Rent of real property (other than buildings) 100
Rental of equipment 100
Rental of non-residential building 150
Rental watersports equipment 100
Repair and maintenance of mise, items 100
Restaurant A— Seating capacity 25 or more 200
Restaurant B— Seating capacity less than 25 125
Retail shop and store— except liquor 100
Retailers liquor license 250
Riding academy 75
Rooming house 100
Rug and furniture cleaning on location 100
Sailing school 200
Sale of prepaid hotel reservation 125
Sales and marketing concepts 50
Sales finance 200
Salvage and sale of used parts 100
Scheduled air service 700
School of ceramics 100
School of language 100
School of music 100
School of philosophy 100
School of underwater photography 100
Scooter and/or motorcycle rental 150
Scrap metal collection and sales 100
Scrap paper collection and sales 100
Scrap plastic collection and sales 100
Scuba diving school and related services 125
Secretarial service ' 100
*494Security analyzing service $ 100
Septic tank cleaning 150
Sewer cleaning and rodding services 150
Sewerage maintenance and operational engineering services 150 Sewing school 100
Sheet metal and iron work shop 150
Ship chandler 100
Shoe repair shop 75
Sightseeing and tour operations 100
Sign painting 75
Silk screen manufacturing 150
Skating rink 175
Solicitor, sales and commission agent 75
Sporting and recreational camp 100
Sports instructor 100
Sports promoter 150
Sprinkle system installation contractor 75
Steamship and shipping agents 150
Stevedoring license 100
Summer school 100
Swimming instruction 100
Swimming pool installation contractor 150
Tailoring and alteration service 100
Tavernkeeper A— distilled and fermented spirits 250
Tavernkeeper B— fermented spirits only 150
Tax consultant 100
Telegraph office 350
Television station 600
Temporary help contracting agency 100
Tennis club 100
Theatrical production, except motion picture 100
Theatrical promoter and booking agent 150
Theatrical variety employment service 150
Tile setting contractor 75
Tire recapping and retreading service 100
Tobacco Retailer 100
Tobacco Wholesaler 500
Transient disco service 75
*495Transient amusement operator $ 500
Translation services 100
Travel and ticket agent 150
Tree surgery 100
Trucking, transportation and delivery 100
Typewriter repair shop ■ 100
Undertaking business 500
Upholstery shop 100
Used car lot 100
Vehicle inspection service 100
Vending machine A— License— 0 through 5 machines 100
Vending machine B— License— 6 through 20 machines 150
Vending machine C— License— 21 through 50 machines 200
Vending machine D— License— more than 50 machines 400
Vocational training school 100
Water skiing school 100
Water supply services 150
Waterproofing contractor 75
Welding services 100
Wholesaler and other than liquor 250
Writing school 100
Yacht brokerage service 100
(b) Any person or association engaged in a business, occupation, profession, or trade not designated in subsection (a) of this section or not covered by any other provision of this Code shall obtain an annual license at a fee of $100.