California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from General Motors Corp. v. City of Los Angeles, 35 Cal.App.4th 1736, 42 Cal.Rptr.2d 430 (Cal. App. 1995):
In Tyler Pipe Industries v. Dept. of Revenue, supra, 483 U.S. 232, 107 S.Ct. 2810, 97 L.Ed.2d 199, the court held Washington's business and occupation tax unconstitutional "because it places a tax burden upon manufacturers in Washington engaged in interstate commerce from which local manufacturers selling locally are exempt." (Id. at p. 253, 107 S.Ct. at 2823.) Washington imposed a business and occupation tax on the privilege of engaging in business activities in the state, including manufacturing and wholesale selling. The same tax rates applied to both activities. The measure of the wholesale selling tax was gross proceeds of sales and the measure of the manufacturing tax was the value of the manufactured product. However, under Washington's multiple activities exemption, local manufacturers were exempted from the manufacturing tax for any portion of their output that was subject to the wholesale selling tax. In other words, Washington manufacturers were allowed a credit against the manufacturer's tax for wholesale selling taxes paid on in-state sales, reducing the amount of their manufacturer's tax obligation. No credit was allowed for taxes paid on sales outside of Washington. The exemption resulted in (1) local manufacturers paying the wholesale selling tax on local sales and the manufacturing tax on out-of-state sales, and (2) out-of-state manufacturers paying the wholesale selling tax on sales in Washington.
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