Court Opinion

ID: 9884435
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:56:33.828722+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:38.437313
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Kluczynsici, dissenting: I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the interpretation of section 3 of the Use Tax Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1955, ch. 120 par. 439.3) as originally given by the Department of Revenue was erroneous and that such an interpretation would be violative of the commerce clause. The events of storing fuel in Illinois or the taking of fuel from storage in Illinois are constitutionally taxable under our Act because the events are complete before interstate commerce begins. (Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway v. Wallace, 288 U.S. 249, 77 L. Ed. 730, 53 S. Ct. 345; Edelman v. Boeing Air Transport, Inc., 289 U.S. 249, 77 L. Ed. 1155, 53 S. Ct. 591.) Thus a tax measured by the value of the entire tank of fuel is constitutionally permissible and it follows that a tax measured by something less would also be permissible. Section 3 of the Act in part provides: “To prevent actual or likely multistate taxation, the tax herein imposed shall not apply to the use of tangible personal property in this State under the following circumstances: * * * (d) the temporary storage, in this State, of tangible personal property which is acquired outside this State and which, subsequent to being brought into this State and stored here temporarily, is used solely outside this State * * (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1955, ch. 120, par. 439.3.) I believe that this section exempts that portion of the fuel which “stored here temporarily, is used solely outside this State.” The intent of the owner when the fuel is placed in the tanks of the airplane is that a certain portion will be consumed in the State of Illinois. This portion is no longer exempt under section 3 and therefore taxable. The remainder of the fuel is stored in the tanks for use solely outside the State of Illinois and keeps its exempt status while in the tanks. Such an interpretation was given to the exemption from its enactment in 1955 until June 3, 1963, when the Department of Revenue changed its position so that a tax, measured by the value of the entire tank of fuel, is imposed when fuel is taken out of a storage tank and placed into tanks of the airplane. I believe, however, that the original construction given to the statute is correct for the following reasons: First, it is a reasonable construction of the wording of the exemption which admittedly is capable of other reasonable interpretations when applied to the facts of this case. Secondly, the construction given to the statute at the time of enactment by the agency administering the statute is entitled to substantial weight. Before the Governor signed the Use Tax Act in July, 1955, the Department of Revenue, in response to an inquiry by the Honorable Paul Randolph (member of Illinois House of Representatives, Chairman of the Revenue Committee of the House and member of the joint House-Senate Conference Committee which recommended the Use Tax Bill for passage) stated in a letter to him its intent as to how it would administer the Act. The letter was written on July 12, 1955, by Willard Ice, then Supervisor, Rules and Regulations Division of the Department of Revenue, and stated that if a carrier purchased fuel outside of the State "and some of the items or units thereof (such as so many gallons of gasoline) are used in Illinois and some of the items or units thereof (such as so many gallons of gasoline) are used outside of Illinois, the carrier would be liable for the use tax on the items used in Illinois, but not on the items used outside of Illinois assuming that the carrier keeps adequate records to segregate the nontaxable from the taxable items.” Thirdly, the exemption as originally construed, had been applied continuously and uniformly for an extended period of time. And finally, during the eight years when the Department’s original construction was in effect, the Illinois legislature amended section 3 of the Use Tax Act, at least once each session without repudiating the Department’s construction. Thus, the legislature gave implied consent to the construction by nonaction on its part. See: Canada Packers, Ltd. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co., 385 U.S. 182, 17 L. Ed. 2d 281, 87 S. Ct. 359; Cory Corp. v. Sauber, 363 U.S. 709, 4 L. Ed. 1508, 8 S. Ct. 1331; United States v. Leslie Salt Co., 350 U.S. 383, 100 L. Ed. 441, 76 S. Ct. 416; People ex rel. Spiegel v. Lyons, 1 Ill. 2d 409; Illinois Bell Telephone Co. v. Commerce Com., 414 Ill. 275. For these reasons I would reverse the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County. Schaefer and Davis, JJ., join in this dissent.