OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable Nlh P.nglia
Crlmiml Dietr lot Attorney
Longvlrv,. Texas
Dear sir:
mover and no power t' rttorney.
corporation I mosey de-
“~UESTXOMS:
------v-
this Company corn under Article #7047,
Subdivision 15, known as 'money lenders,’
and are they subject to the annual State
tax of $150.00, and the County tax of 475.00,
as occupation tax?
“(2) Do you construe this article that they would
co% under this law, if nat under the abwe
Hanoreble Mike An&lln, page 2
questiota, since the branch manager vi11 be
an agent of the c>rporatl3n la lending its
money, where he both lends and collects
nonsy loaned and remits profits to the home
orfloe of the oomp8nyT”
Article 7047, Subdirislon 15, Revised Civil Strt-
utt8, 1925, IS 48 f0ii0~8:
51on4y bndtr8. --From ortry ptrs30, firm, as-
sociation oi persons, o? corporation vhosa busl-
ntsu is lending money ts agent or agents rm my
corporotlon, firm or sssoalatlon, tither in this
Stats or out of it, an 8nnual tu of One Hundred
r+irty Dollars (#150.00). Provided, that If an of-
ilct 18 malnt4lnsd in more than one oounty, the
atat. trx sh811 be payable in laoh county uhert
an oftlot 18 ulntalwd: and, provided, tUrthtr,
that this Tcx shall not apply to persons, firms,
or lssoolatlons who lend money 88 an lncldecit
mrtly to the real estate buslnsss, nor shall said
tax apply to banks, tw banking lnstltut ldos rtgu-
larly organlssd as such.’
Ths Uhlvtrsal CIT Credit Corporation, a foreign cor-
poratlon, received a psrmlt to do buslntss in Texas irm the
Secretary of State 00 September 20, 1945, to ongage in busl-
noss In Texas for the follorlng purpowst
“To tccunultto tnd lend, purohtse end deal
in notos, mortgages ld other rsctlvablts, but
vithout banking or discount prl+llsgts.”
The Court OS Crlmlnal Appt818 lo the case of Mtrne
V. State, 75 S.W. (2d) 5153, construed the term mm3ne9lender”
85 r0ii0w8 3
“:1x dms the evidence shou that Means Yas
a ‘msneg lender’ vlthln the loeaniug of article
7047, subd. 15, R.S. 1525. The ertlcle referred
to def lnes a money lender thus: ‘Every persm,
flrln or assoclat:on of persons looting money 88
agent or sgtnts for any corporation, firm or as-
sociation, either la this Stats or out OS it,’ 1s
a money lender. It 1s clear that, if’ Means was
Hm?rsble Mike Anglln, race 3
lotnlng his own money, tnd there la [10 trldtnce
to \he contrary, he was not t ‘money ltnc?er. a
...
It la fundamental lau that s oorpotatlon acts Only
through its offloers or agents, ulthln the scope of their au-
thority, tlthor express or lmpllod. Sines one of the pur-
pos4s authorized by the permit Zssutd by the Stats of Terns
to the oorporatlon was to lsnd money OILnotes, mortgages,
and other rtotlrabltr, ths lot of the branch manager In ltnd-
lng ths oorporatlon’s own monty on automobiles as security
was tht sot of the corporation In lending It8 own mo ne y l
,nd
hsnct, under the decision in the cast cited nbovt, neither
the corporation nor the branch manager is subject to the pro-
visions of subdirision 15, Prtlclt 7047, R.C.S., 1925.
Very truly yours
ATTORHEY
OERERAL
OF TXAS
* . .
Pssistant
CID?
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