Texas Attorney General Opinion: V-1383 Page: 2 of 7
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Hono Robert So Calvert, page 2 (V-1383)
"Please advise me whether or not
toll calls from one Texas point to an-
other Texas point routed via another
State as described above, is iater-
state commerce, and as such exempt
from the Texas Gross Receipts Taxo"
It becomes immediately apparent that the
answer to this question hinges upon the determina-
tion of whether the receipts are derived from inter-
state commerce If so, then such receipts may be
wholly, or, at least, partially exempt from State
taxation under the Commerce Clause. UoSo Const. Ar.
1, Sec. 8.
It has not been suggested that the inter-"
state routing through New Mexico by the Mountain
States Telephone Company of the toll calls from El
Paso to other points in Texas was intentionally util-
ized as a means of avoiding this tax. We assume that
such routing was necessary or expedient and that the
company has acted in good faith If the contrary
should appear, an entirely different question would
be presented.
We will not attempt to review or to distin-
guish the many cases relating to this interstate com-
merce question It suffices to state that this is an
area of "nice distinctions." We enclose a copy of At-
torney General's Opinion Noo V-994 (1950) wherein we
reviewed some of the recent interstate commerce cases
It is a general rule that a State cannot levy a tax
so as to place a buharden on, discriminate against, or
for the privilege of engaging in interstate commerce.
It is also generally stated that gross receipts de-
rived from interstate commerce are exempt from State
taxation. These rules, however, oversimplify the ques-
tion and are helpful in answering specific questions
in that they serve only as guide posts.
In the determination of whether a State tax
infringes the Commerce Clause, the Supreme Court in
C, 309 U.S. 33
, laid down the following rules tests
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: V-1383, text, January 4, 1952; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth266201/m1/2/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.