TRACI COMMUNICATIONS, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Traci Communications appealed a Department of Revenue assessment imposing sales and gross receipts taxes on voice mail services. The court affirmed the assessment, holding that voice mail services constitute local telephone services and are therefore subject to taxation under Florida law.
Voice mail services are subject to sales and gross receipts taxes because they constitute local telephone services as defined by section 203.012, Florida Statutes. The services fall within the statutory definition because they are provided 'in connection with' local telephone service, and thus are also encompassed by the definition of telecommunication services.
[1] Voice mail answering services provided in connection with local telephone service are subject to sales and gross receipts taxes.
[2] The definition of local telephone service includes any facility or service provided in connection with access to a local telephone system and the privilege of telephonic-…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Local telephone service is defined as '(a) The access to a local telephone system, and the privilege of telephonic-quality communication with substantially all persons having telephone or radio telephone stations constituting a part of such local telephone system; or (b) Any facility or service provided in connection with a service described in paragraph (a).'”
Establishes the statutory definition of local telephone service that encompasses services provided 'in connection with' telephone systems, which is central to the court's reasoning.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceTraci Communications, a Florida corporation providing telephone answering services, was audited by the Department of Revenue for the period August 1, …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
BLANC, PETER D., Associate Judge.
Traci Communications, Inc. (Traci) is a Florida Corporation that is in the business of providing telephone answering services to its customers. In 1997, the Department of Revenue (DOR) completed a sales tax and gross receipts tax audit on Traci for the period from August 1, 1992 through December 31, 1996. As a result of the audit, DOR determined that additional taxes were due from Traci. Traci appeals the portion of the DOR assessment imposing sales and gross receipts taxes on the voice mail services provided by Traci. We affirm.
Traci argues that voice mail services, an outgrowth of manual telephone answering services which use live operators, are not subject to either sales or gross receipts taxes because the services are not specifically included within the definition of telecommunication services found in section 203.012, Florida Statutes (1997). However, a careful analysis of the statute leads to a contrary conclusion.
The definition of telecommunication service includes local telephone service. See § 203.012(5)(a), Fla. Stat. (1997). Local telephone service is defined as “(a) The access to a local telephone system, and the privilege of telephonic-quality communication with substantially all persons having telephone or radio telephone stations constituting a part of such local telephone system; or (b) Any facility or service provided in connection with a service described in paragraph (a).” § 203.012(3)(a) & (b), Fla. Stat. (1997) (emphasis added).
Clearly, Traci’s voice mail answering services are provided “in connection with” the local telephone service as defined by statute. Because the services fall within the statutory definition of local telephone service they also fall within the statutory definition of telecommunication service, which specifically includes local telephone services. See § 203.012(5)(a), Fla. Stat. (1997). Consequently, the charges for Traci’s voice mail services are subject to gross receipts tax and sales tax pursuant to Chapters 203 and 212 of the Florida Statutes. Although it is a fundamental rule of construction that tax laws are to be construed strongly in favor of the taxpayer and against the government, and that all ambiguities or doubts are to be resolved in favor of the taxpayer, Maas Bros., Inc. v. Dickinson, 195 So. 2d 193 (Fla.1967), this court finds no ambiguity in the application of the relevant statutory language to the facts of this case.
AFFIRMED.
KLEIN and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Orthopedic Specialists v. Allstate Ins. Co., 177 So. 3d 19 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)…o. 3d 91, 94 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012) (“When interpreting a statute, we interpret its language and the resulting operation of its terms by reading the statute as a whole to give it meaning in its entirety.”); Traci Commc’ns, Inc. v. Fla. Dep’t of Revenue, 737 So. 2d 1255, 1256 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (recognizing rule that ambiguities in tax law are to be construed against taxing authority and in favor of taxpayer); DeRoin v. State, Dep’t of Bus. & Prof'l Regulation, Bd. of Veterinary Med., 160 So. 3d 516 (Fla. 4th DCA…
Authorities Cited
- Maas Bros., Inc. v. Dickinson, 195 So. 2d 193 (Fla. 1967)