MERRITT SQUARE CORP., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEP'T OF REVENUE, APPELLEE
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Merritt Square appeals a tax assessment under Florida Statutes Section 203.01, which imposes a tax on gross receipts from electricity sales. The court affirms the tax liability, holding that the statutory text unambiguously applies to private utilities selling electricity to tenants, despite the statute's misleading section catchline referencing only 'public service corporations.'
The statute's plain text unambiguously requires payment of the tax on all persons receiving payment for electricity, regardless of whether they are public service corporations. The misleading catchline does not modify or limit the statute's operative text and therefore does not exempt Merritt Square from the tax obligation.
[1] A misleading catchline in a statute does not modify or alter the unambiguous text of the statute itself.
[2] The text of a statute, not its catchline, governs its meaning and application.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“Every person . . . receiving payment for electricity for light, heat or power . . . shall report semiannually to the Department of Revenue . . . the total amount of gross receipts derived from business done within this state . . . and, at the same time, shall pay into the state treasury the sum of $1.50 upon each $100 of such gross receipts.”
The operative statutory text that unambiguously imposes the tax on all persons receiving electricity payments, forming the basis for the court's holding.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMerritt Square, a shopping center owner, collected payments from its tenants for electricity that Merritt Square produced and sold to them. The Depart…
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SMITH, Acting Chief Judge.
Merritt Square appeals from a circuit court judgment holding it liable to pay the tax imposed by Section 203.01, Florida Statutes (1975), on receipts collected from its shopping center tenants for electricity produced by Merritt Square and sold to its tenants. The text of the statute clearly requires payment of the tax:
Every person . . . receiving payment for electricity for light, heat or power . . . shall report semiannually to the Department of Revenue . . . the total amount of gross receipts derived from business done within this state . . . and, at the same time, shall pay into the state treasury the sum of $1.50 upon each $100 of such gross receipts. The catchline of Section 203.01 is misleadingly labeled “Public service corporations, tax upon gross receipts.” Merritt Square is not a “public service corporation” but is rather a private utility. Department of Revenue v. Merritt Square Corp., 334 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). The misleading catchline has appeared repeatedly in Florida Statutes since 1941, and it was referred to by the legislature in the title to Chapter 57-819, Laws of Florida, which amended the statute in a manner not here pertinent. These references to “public service corporations,” though confusing and worthy of corrective legislation, are not part of and do not modify the unambiguous text of the statute. Askew v. MGIC Development Corp. of Florida, 262 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972); McCulley Ford, Inc. v. Calvin, 308 So. 2d 189 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974), cert. denied, 314 So. 2d 592 (Fla.1975). We considered Merritt Square’s other point on the appeal and find it unavailing.
AFFIRMED.
ERVIN and BOOTH, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- McCULLEY Ford, Inc. v. Calvin, 308 So. 2d 189 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)
- Reubin O'D. Askew v. Mgic Dev. Corp. OF Fla., Inc., 262 So. 2d 227 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)
- Dep't OF Revenue v. The Merritt Square Corp., 334 So. 2d 351 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)
- McCULLEY Ford, Inc. v. Calvin, 314 So. 2d 592 (Fla. 1975)