Commonwealth v. McGlinn Distilling Co.

Citations

• 265 Pa. 346
• 108 A. 823
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 553

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Corporations—Capital stock tax — Company incorporated for purpose of distilling liquors and selling same at wholesale — Corporation engaged in blending and selling whiskey at wholesale — Act of July IB, 1897, P. L. 292.</p> <p>1. A foreign corporation authorized “to manufacture, distill, brew, rectify, refine, blend and deal in beverages of all kinds, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic,” but which is solely engaged in the business of blending and selling whiskey at wholesale, is subject to a capital stock tax at the rate of ten mills upon the value of invested capital within the State under the Act of J uly 15, 1897, P. L. 292, See. 2, which imposes a tax of ten mills upon the capital stock of “companies organized and incorporated for the purpose of distilling liquors and selling the same at wholesale,” inasmuch as the test is not the business conducted, but whether the concern in question was “organized and incorporated for the purpose of distilling liquors and selling the same at wholesale.” Where such a company has elected its officers, adopted its by-laws, etc., it is organized within the meaning of the act.</p> <p>2. The tax imposed by the Act of July 15, 1897, P. L. 292, is not a tax on franchise value, but a tax on so much of the whole capital stock of such corporations as is represented by actual property invested in the State.</p> <p>3. A corporation may, in point of fact, be solely engaged in the pursuit of one business, yet, if possessed of charter powers to carry on another, the legislature has the right to classify it in the latter category; and, when this is plainly done, the course adopted is binding upon the courts.</p> <p>4. In some eases equity may control the apportionment of a tax, when duly assessed, but it cannot in any manner affect the classification of a corporation for purposes of taxation, where the relevant act clearly states that companies “shall constitute a separate class,” not according to a business actually conducted, but