Commonwealth v. Thorne, Neale & Co.

Citations

• 264 Pa. 408
• 107 A. 814
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 663

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Mercantile tax — Corporations — Vendors of coal — Principal and agent — Act of May 2, 1899, P. L. 184 — Words and phrases — Del credere agent.</p> <p>1. A vendor within the meaning of the Mercantile Tax Act of May 2,1899, P. L. 184, is one who buys to sell.</p> <p>2. A corporation with power to buy and sell coal is liable for the mercantile tax on the whole volume of its gross sales, as provided by the Act of May 2, 1899, P. L. 184, where it appears that it dealt directly with its customers; that it transmitted orders received from them to the operator; that the shipments were made by the operator according to the company’s directions; that the coal was charged and billed by the operator to the company, and by the company to its customers; that it collected the money from its customers, and if it was not paid it sued in its own name, and whether the money was collected from the customer or charged off as a loss, the company made up to the operator the price of the coal as its own debt; that the company never had possession of the coal for the account of the operator, but that the deliveries of specific quantities were made directly to customers upon its direction ; that in the event of failure to accept by its customers, it did not return the coal to the operator nor retake it for the operator, but resold it for its own account; that the company was limited to a profit of from ten to fifteen cents a tpn according to the size of the coal; and that the company was responsible for all bills, and in the event of insolvency or refusal to pay, it was bound to pay the bill.</p> <p>3. In such a ease the company was not acting merely as a del credere agent working under a fixed commission, but was a principal, buying and selling coal on its own account, and therefore subject to the tax provided by the Act of May 2,1899, P. L. 184.</p> <p>4. The fixed commission or profits of ten or fifteen cents per ton are entirely consistent with the contract of sale wherein