OFFlCE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Section 2 of hrticlo 111X, Fenal Cod0 of Texas,
kno,.:nand cited as the "Cl-mill::CCTC Tax Lax,* pro-
cozz-:;only
vides r,encrally thbt any person, Sir3 or corljoretion desiring
to operate , mintain, open or establish a store or mrcsntils
establ~iehnent in thio St::to skl.1 rake application for a li-
cense so to do In .the fom and .riannurprovided, and fui%har
rcquii-es that "each ap;;lic~tion shall bo accomponiad by a
filiq See OS fifty cents (5C$) for ench store or :mrca:ltilo
oetablirhxent O~l~etr?d Or ii0 be O;Ml+:>ted~fOI’the j?JrpCee Cf
dcrrGyinC the CO~:tr:of ud,.zinistretionof ttlis Act." "
Section 3 of the above cited Act provides that if,
ucon exaximtion, VVan nmlir.ation is found to be eatlnfactorv.
f1i.n; and l.iccnse foes &r. krein pr9acribea,8kii
and ii the -'
hcivo been jxid, t50 CcuLlptrollorof rublic Accounts ahnll i r-sue
~aop~licont a llceuse for each store or zercsntila estab-
lishxcnt To"orxhlch an a~;~lication Sor a license shall have
bow mde." (%iphrr.sis o!ms).
Section 4 of the Act provide3 that all licenses
shall be issued Sor a period of the calendar geer so as to
erpirc on ths 3lst day of Deccrzber af each year, and on or
beforo th;?cdate a ra~e~al liceesa for the :;u~~ceding year
shawl. be issued by the Co:qtrol.ler cf Lublic Accounts, u?on
'ap,?licationtharel'or, accompanied by the filing fae of Sifty
cents for aach 8tOl.o.
Section 5 of the Chain Store ?ict provides for the
payaent,~ in addition to the above described Siline See re-
quired by .'.ections2~and 4 03 tho Act, of a license fee,
Crsduated accordin& to the nuzbcr of stors:O oi:ncd and operated
by the llccnsee.
In discussing the nature of this so-celled liceose
fco, the Suprma Ccurt OS Tcxaa, in the cssr: of ZiLTt et fll
vc. cooper ot al, regortcd at 110 S.'Y. (?a) '96, spoke 6s
follcws:
.~.
??on. Goarge R. Shopparil, Togo 3.
exceed the a:!lountrealized therefrom. Pa other
is a levy af a licenm fee for cnch store fro:2 v~hich
mch revenue v&l1 be raalized. The 8 ct apporti one
the rcvenuc boik~cen the svailabla school fuhd and
the Eencral fmd, and the only feet stetcd for the
existence of an mergency is that the state is bed-,
ly in need of u2ditionsl revenue. The tcntetivo
opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals accoqsnying
thLs ccrtificste comoctly encwers this qu3st5on
in the follo:.Gn~ lrmgungc: 'i:ethih'd t'ne priymrg
purposa of t.haAct vms to raise revmues, alth.ouch
the levy is WXiCiOilsd 8s a "licc~se fee." The e.r;ler-
fiB!lCFclause rccitin~ the need of additional rcsvonue;
the mousts lsviod being Sar in excese of regulatory
needs, end the distribution mde cfter collec+,ion,
,ind,icatecleerly tiiet the Acty?:rrsinten~ded, primarily
at li'ast, 3~ a revenue masure,~ Ye do not think
it a mtter of significacco th3t the levy is called "
a olicehse fee, " CS its plyP2llt f$VeS th ri,$it t0
carry on the business Y/ithout the, performnco of
any other condition.'**
This decision has a direct beerin upon the detor-
s&nation of the instant question bocause,'in holdln$ the
chain storo licesee foe levioo by Soctioh 5, Article llllb,
Ymcl Code of Ycxas, to'be un occumtion tax, the chain
store tax license issued by tie Co%atrollcr of Fublic AC-
count e, u;jon paymnt of such license fee or' occupation tax,
would be coversed squarely by the temc snd I::ovisions c/f
Article 7055 nnd 7056, Vernon' s Acnotsted Civil :.tet*utes,
insofar as such statut 3s nrs np,?licable to the nttmpted
transfers or assi~+~ento ef the license involved h3re.
Such ststutes 2roovidc as fOlloiIs:
!ion. George Il. She?oard, F=Ee 4.
for in the original oppl.icationr!for such licensee.
EoChi?~ in this 3s~i shall be so construed as to
t%UthOrixG tiY0 OP zore persone, firas, corporations
or associations of personi; to follow; the saw? occu-
pation under one license at the sa:is tii.33. Xhon-
ever any person, first, corporation or essociation
of >eri;ons follo~ir;; en occupation s&l1 be clo:ed
out by leEal. iwocess, the oocupation license shall
be deered an asset of soid .zrson, fir%, corporation
or nssocfatio~ of reriro:ir,znd. sold as other pro-
perty bel.on@! to said person, fir:;:,cor~orntion,
or association; and tb.o purckas:cr thereof rhsll hsve
the right to pursue the occu>%ticn nazied in said
license, or trenefer it to any other person; pmvid-
ed, such occuoation'lioenns
I-. shal.1 under no circur,-
stollcn~
-- bs tr&n:;frjyrc2(i
rcora tbc!~ one t r;e.f+
-IT:ji+-
fxxx1~ ours.)
The underlined portion of Article 7056, T~~snon*s
Annotated Civil Ztatutees, next above quoted, furnishes a speci-
fio answer to your stxon6 question. Dy tlx lsttcr of the sta-
tut.e an unexpired oocupation tax license such OS the one In-
volved hsrc ~1s transferable or an&gable only one tice dur&
the calendar '@or for which tucb liccnso is offcctiva,.and
coneoquently you \i;ou
ld,not be eutf-orized to recoc;nisa the
validity,of a\lch second trensfcr or aseig~went. Such sec0,nd
traosl'oree or assignee would be~re~~ired to pmkre a 1~0~:.
license for:t!le bslence Gf the calendar year upon fom~al
application, acc~+en&ed by the fil.icg fee of fifty cents, in
accordanue:vA.th Sectioq 2 of the Chain Store Tar Act.
Kecurr1.q nCci to YOUIT first TJestion, it 13 our
opinion thst'the filing fee, cf fifty cents would not be re-
quirod to occor~eny en og~lfl.catlo:: or request for a ccrtifi-
cota reco~nizi~ the first transfer or aasi,',n::-nt of t!le
ohain store tax license; This co-czlled application is not
the cpplicotion ccnt~;:.lpletod or revJircd by Section 2 of'
Article lllld, Fcnal Code of TeX%G, for,the in~ucncc of a
nev; license or liczansos originally issued to the prson, fir=
or corporatfcn desirin;: to omrzts, naintnin, oy-n or estab-
lish stores Gr 2ercantile ceta31isbzents in Texas, and vie.
aI’9 not authorize: to cnlarg,a t!>n F.CO~ of Secti 2 of this
Act co as to xako it co:cproh:ende ro?uent or npplicstion
$TGXin(l Out Of en n;si~n:;ent Or tr2nsi'cr 0% a chain store
tar ,liCm,p1, in conn:,ctl~on~Y3it.h xhic?~ thn fiiifi::
fee of fi.fty
cmt s hl E olrs~dy b?:en paid. Under the holdin: of the ':.u?rc:ze.
Court iii the CCIEC Gf Xui't at al'vr.. Cooper ct 31, supra, this
.
filing,fee of fifty cants ‘::a8h:?ld to bs a rekul3tory fee for
the purpo~3 of defroyin,;,cx~encos incident to o~plications
for chain st.orstax licenses, rather than a fe3 undor tkx
pcwcrr of taxation. The o!:ain ?Gore t:?x License, for dich
such filia,; fet, Vief3orlgin3lly paid, is, un;!er th.3 facts
givtxI iA con1?3Ct.i~!1with your fj,rst c~ue~~tio!~,
Outstanding,
and vliU. rexin so until the end of tte calender year. Con-
cequently, any en:pcnso intillent to the transfer or nssicn-
ment of ~uc!2 chain store tax license is not t&en care of
by the flllw f~c,of fifty cents originally paid, noris
any odditiozal fi:e required for r,uch pwposes by eny lar.@ag;o
which can he poir,teC to in tbo Chsla Stork :'LX ;$ct.
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