Case Information
*1 OFFICE -OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF ‘TEXAS
AUSTIN
Eon.. George E. sbeapsra
Cciqtroller of Public Accounts
Austin, T e x aa
,~or,.the Forty- a f ex on the tionsa law bscame effective es 1, and the question arise3 8s to The stetu:e ir. C’$XZEtiOLl 16, t~GUS6 ii3 drtiOY.6 Bill xo. 8 ?orty-ccvonth of t&it st3tutxi.povide 00 Poll~v~s: tcz on Ccr &.n oil me11 services. 4 L6&faQ#, Se&ions 1 and 2 WiliCh ii333668 [8] *2 . -
George 8. Sheppard, Faze 2 ;-. Vaction I.. (3) The tern 'pcrsonV shall . . ror tns purpose of this Article ffisen 3na in- indivi&wfis, prrtnorohips, firms, joint
ma0 stock c021p3nis3, essscintions, and corpora- tioil3.
"(b) Zvery person in this St&a engqesd in the businass of furnishing any service or poricr3ing any autg for othsrs for a consi& eration or coupensotion, with the u3s of any device, tools, instruments or aquipaent, olec- trical, mechanical, or otherMae, or by means -of nny cheticccl, electr:col, or mschanical
process when such service is garformed in connection with th6 ccnsnting of the oosing ssst of any foil or gas well or the shooting or acidizln$ the forsotions of such wells or .the surveying or testing of the sad3 or other formatinns OS the earth in any such oil or &as viells, shall report on the 20th of each month and pay' to the Comptroller, at his office in Austin; Texas, an ocaupation tax equal to tpo ana two-tenths (2.2) per ; . cent of the gross amount reoelved from said
service furnished or duty qarformed, during the calen&cr month next prsceaing. The ssld report shall be executsd usder oath on a form prescribed and fu&W.shea by ths ComptrolLer, .
"Sec. 2. A complete record of the busi- ness transacted, together rrith any othor ln- formmtion the Comptroller may require shall be kept by eaoh person furnishing any service or performing any duty subjectto said fsx, v?Lich said raeores shall be kept for a FsriOd of t?w (2) yB?irB, open to the inspection of the Comptroller of Public Accounts Or the Attorney G,nersl of this State, or their au- t!:orized rspresentatives. T~Q Comptroller ah311 havs the suthority to oclopt rules and rsgulntions for the enforcement of this AP title an& the collection of the leVi6a hwein.*f *3 Gear&e 11. Sheppard, Fqs 3
IB stqtad in I?.ttsrney General's Opinion no. O-3627. d:?tad June 27. 19.L.l. We think S-As is 2 on~~a~Vica furnished'4ndmbutp 3erScr:md.* It is 2n excise on opsrstions llperSor;lad in connection With" certain Oil Mel1 services. It is not a tax on the gross recei;?ta, but it is rnaasursa by the gross re- ceipts reoeivsd by the operator, ati it is not due un- til the next inonth after the gross rece13ts are recaiv- ea.
AQ this iaw aid not go into asseot until Xay 1, 194.l. it a0c,s notspzly to oper-tions p.zrSomeb prior to tb:t tine, unless the language of the ststuta shows a clear intent that it apTlg to acts prior to that date. w8 find no such language. In thecase of RO6E5U.,L COUNTY V. KAWW3 OOVYE, 69 Tax. 172, 6 S.W. 131, the court tisia :
m!r. Risho:, says: *In the absenae of sny special indication or reason, end EE a comon rule, a statute will not be applied ratrospec- tivaly, even when there is no ctnstitntional '5 impeaiaent. Some of tha cases appear to hold
that to work an exception to this rula the rat,- rospeotive intent must appear in the words j~tbe~elves.' (Bishop on The mitten Laws, seo.
. * See slao the cs3es of IEZi%AR P* TZRRiZL, 115 ',. Tax. 530r 2P4 8.7:. 946, and CITY OFPCRT ViGRTR v. 3XOR- ROy;','28& S.W. 275.
T&G tax is.xsasursd by recajgts rsceived for operetions ps~riorma Ray 1, 19&l, or thereafter. F fiareiless OS ::hen the receipt3 are ~CGiVQd by t he pep Zoo maa6 liable for the tajc, a ts% ia only au0 if those .raceipts nro for taxable oper3tiona, thet is, open-
tions Rorfor~ed after the la59 was in effect. Our an- mer to your question is that no tax acorues fron raC6ipt3 the operator receive& during ?&y, 194l. in pagnlent of servicea Surniahed an4 duty periornad dur- tag Ansil, 1941.