CURCIE BROTHERS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
JOE CARUTHERS, AS TAX ASSESSOR, ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 2d DCA | 1966-02-09
No. 6407
SHANNON, Acting C. J., and ANDREWS, CHARLES O., Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
183 So. 2d 594 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1966) Positive Treatment
Cited by 5 cases

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Synopsis

Curcie Brothers, a road construction company, appealed the dismissal of its complaint challenging the assessment of its machinery in Sumter County. The court reversed the dismissal, holding that the complaint stated a valid cause of action based on allegations that the property was temporarily located in Sumter County and was already assessed in the corporation's home county of Broward.


Holding

The complaint stated a valid cause of action because it alleged facts sufficient to potentially establish that the machinery had not acquired a tax situs in Sumter County. The determination of whether personal property is temporarily or permanently located in a county requires fact-finding and cannot be resolved by dismissal for failure to state a cause of action.


Key Quotes

“The general rule is that the situs of personal property for the purpose of taxation is primarily at the domicile of the owner, subject to certain exceptions, such as the acquisition of a fixed situs different from that of the owner.”

Establishes the foundational rule that tax situs is generally at the owner's domicile unless an exception applies.

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Facts & Procedural History

Curcie Brothers, a Florida corporation with its home office in Broward County, was performing road construction work in Sumter County in January 1964 …

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Opinion of the Court
MORROW, R. O., Associate Judge.

MORROW, R. O., Associate Judge.

This is a timely interlocutory appeal by the plaintiff below from an order dismissing his complaint for failure to state a cause of action.

The appellant is a corporation engaged in the road construction business. Its home office is in Broward County. In January 1964, appellant was performing work on a project in Sumter County and had some heavy machinery located there. This property was assessed by the appellee, Sumter County Tax Assessor. Appellant brought this suit in equity to have the assessment set aside as void, on the theory that the machinery had not acquired a tax situs in Sumter County. The appellees, defendants, below, moved to dismiss the complaint, and the granting of this motion by the chancellor is the order appealed.

The question to be determined is whether or not the tangible personal property was taxable in Sumter County. Fla. Stat., Sec. 200.021, F.S.A., provides:

“(1) All taxable tangible personal property, as defined by § 200.01, located in the state between January 1 and March 31 of each year (both dates inclusive) shall be taxable for said year in the county and by the tax assessor of the county in which the same is located; provided, that tangible personal property brought into the state after January 1st and before April 1st of any year shall be taxable for that year only if such property is brought into the state for resale or if the assessor has reason to believe that such property will be removed from the state prior to January 1st of the next succeeding year.
“(2) All taxable tangible personal property which is removed from one county in this state to another county after January 1st of any year shall be subject to taxation for said year in the county where it was located on January 1st.”

The term “taxable situs,” or “situs,” is not used in the above section.

“The general rule is that the situs of personal property for the purpose of taxation is primarily at the domicile of the owner, subject to certain exceptions, such as the acquisition of a fixed situs different from that of the owner.” (Harkness v. Seaboard Airline Railway, 99 Fla. 1027, 128 So. 264; Hunt v. Turner, 54 Fla. 654, 45 So. 509)

The actual physical location of taxable personal property is not necessarily the same as the tax situs of such property.

“In order to acquire a situs in a state or taxing district regardless of the domicile of the owner and not taxable in another state or district at the domicile of the owner, tangible personal property must be more or less permanently located in the state or district. In other words, the situs of tangible *596personal property is where it is more or less permanently located rather than where it is merely in transit or temporarily for no considerable length of time.” (2 Cooley on Taxation, 4th Edition, Page 982, Section 452)

Whether or not tangible personal property is temporarily or permanently located in a certain county must he determined from the facts of each case. If the tangible personal property is in a temporary or transitory status, it will be taxed at the domicile of the owner when properly returned for taxation at said domicile; otherwise, the tax situs would be in the county where the tangible personal property was located on January 1st of the year in which the tax is assessed.

With reference to Fla.Stat., Sec. 200.09, F.S.A., the same determination of permanent or transitory status of tangible personal property would have to be resolved in each case.

On a Motion to Dismiss, all facts well pleaded in the Complaint are taken as true. The Complaint alleges that the tangible personal property was returned for taxation purposes by the Appellant to the Tax Assessor of Broward County, and that said County was the place of business of the Appellant corporation, and that the personal property in question was located in Sumter County on a temporary or transitory basis. Said Complaint stating a cause of action, the Order of the Trial Court entered June 4, 1965, dismissing said Complaint is reversed, and this cause remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

Reversed.

SHANNON, Acting C. J., and ANDREWS, CHARLES O., Jr., Associate Judge, concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Popwell v. Abel, 226 So. 2d 418 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969)
    ….1966, 189 So. 2d 163; Russell v. Community Blood Bank, Inc., Fla.App.1966, 185 So. 2d 749, reversed on other grounds Fla., 196 So. 2d 115; Pourtless v. Suwannee Hotel Co., Fla.App.1966, 184 So. 2d 512; Curcie Bros., Inc. v. Caruthers, Fla.App.1966, 183 So. 2d 594, quashed on other grounds 195 So. 2d 545; Lake Erie Chemical Co. v. Stinson, Fla.App.1966, 181 So. 2d 587; Simon v. Tampa Electric Co., Fla.App. 1967, 202 So. 2d 209. . Connolly v. Sebeco, Inc., Fla.1956, 89 So. 2d 482. . Rule 1.110(d) F.R.C.P., 3…
  • Caruthers v. Curcie Bros., Inc., 195 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 1967)
    …ear in that county. The decision of the District Court is quashed and the cause remanded for disposition consistent herewith. THORNAL, C. J., THOMAS, DREW and O’CONNELL, JJ., and PARKER, Circuit Judge, concur. ERVIN, J., dissents with Opinion. . 183 So. 2d 594 (Fla.App.2nd 1966). . 172 So. 2d 646 (Fla.App.1st 1965). . “(2) All taxable tangible personal property which is removed from one county in this state to another county after January 1st of any year shall be subject to taxation for said year in the…

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