OFFICE OF l-NE ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable onill. 8. Carpenter
Chairman and Xxaautlre Direotor
Taxaa U~Omplopmsnt Oompensation Cod~aion
Austin, Tour
mmber 88, 1939, re-
qurrtlng our opill
(1) aad (4), Seat
011Ofsub-motion8mw
2lb-17, Vernoa'
tlard Clrll sta+
Wb quote from y
frot rltuatlon
l
whloh
oyment during
oquirer owner-
the twentp-eeoond
has twu persona
irot twenty-iire week8
Nerapaper Z ia valued
g the twenty-fifth mek of 1938,
artnerahip interest in Nene-
ing the twenty-sixth week and
erks 5~ 1938, Newspaper 2 ha6 sir
employmentr The partnerahlp agror-
writing and there ir no ~agreemenb
a8 to gontrol or management or ita operationar
oD~~a Seotlon 19 (r) (4) apply to this Saab
eituatloa to rrnder both N and 2 WplOyW8
m&or the Tbxa8 Onemployment 0omprnrrtion Aott*
Honorable Orville, 9. Carptnter, Page e
Sub-ssotlons (1) and (4) of Sootion (r) roads as
follows:
w ‘Employer’ means
” 1) My emplo Ing unit whIoh for some por-
tlon o1 a day but no z neoessarlly simultaneously,
In eaoh of twenty (20) different weeks, whether
or not suoh weeks are or were oonseoutlvs, wlth-
In either the ourrsnt or the Dreoedlnn ialendar
pear, has or had In employmeni eight (8) or more
IndIvIduala (Irrsspeotlre or whether ths ssms
Indlrlduals are or were employ06 In saoh suoh
da)r) I
w* * *
“(4) Any emPloYing Unit which together
with ens or mo e.other amp10 ing units, Is owns&
or oontrolled 1 by legally en $ oyoeable msans or
otherwIs8) dlreotly or Indlrsotlp bp the sams
Interest, or whloh owns or controls one or more
other smploying unIt8 (by legally snforosabls
means or otherwlss), and which, Ii treated as
a single unit with such othsr smploping unit,
would be an employer under paragraph (1) of
this subsaotlon~
a* * **n
Ths factual situation oontainsd id your letter
raises ths question whether or not the owner of a six-sevenths
(a/7) partnership Interest In a newspaper owns or oontrols
said partnership buelness within meaning of sub-ssotion (4)
of Seotlon (f) oi Artiole 522lb-17, supra, In the absenos ot
an agreement as to the oontrol and managsment o? said partner-
ehip.
It Is generally held that eaoh partner, In the
absenoe of tm agrsemsnt to the oontrary, has an equal right
to oontrol and manage the buslnese. 49 Corpus Surls. oh, 296.
It Is also the general rule that a partner does not own any
particular Intereat In a partnership enterprise but his Interest
extends only to a proportlonats share of what map remain after
payment OS the debts of the partner&hip and the ssttlsmsnt of
Its aooounts. Shark v. Bank, 806 9. W. ‘507.
Ws are of the oplnlon that ths Legislaturs, being
familiar,~th the abets rules, nstsrthsless, intended that an
Individual owning a sir-sevenths (6/T) Interest in a partner-
Honoreble Orville 9. Csryenter, Fage 3
ship buelnesri doos own or control the business In the absence
of an aqeenent to the oontrery. This Intent Is derived from
sub-seotlon (4) ot Seotlon (I) of Artlole 5221b-17, whloh pro-
vides that if one employln~ unit *owned or oontrollad (b
leqlly enforoeable means or otherwIse) dlreotlp or Ind 35reot-
&, another enploylng unit, then they would b treetsd as
one unit under the Aot. The words *owned” sndewoontrolled*
are general terms end their neaeing would vary according to
the3.x use.
This being bme, Newspaper “M”, vihloh “A* owns out-
rI&t, and Newspaper nZn, of whloh “An owns a six-aerenths
(6/T) partnership Interest, are to be treated as one employ-
Ing unit and are oonsldered en en loper within the Act. %a-
aJnnIng on the trranty-sixth (26th v weak, both.newspapers,
together hating eight (8) indlriduale in their employment
wouldbe liable
sixth (46th)
for meld taxes at the beglnnln(l of the forty-
weok of the year, WM.
Yours very truly
ATT~PJEY
Ol3G3U.L OF TEXt.3
blenn Ii. Lewis
Aeslstent
BY Lu Lee shoptar
.ws
kT'HXWCY GEN:::..LOF TTXAS