Engs Motor Truck Co. v. State Board of Equalization

—Plaintiff Engs Motor Truck Company (Engs), a retail truck dealer, appeals following summary judgment for defendant State Board of Equalization (the board) in this action for a refund of sales tax and interest paid under protest. (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 6933, all further section references are to the same code unless stated otherwise.)

The issues are (1) whether trucks sold for ostensible delivery to an out-of-state point must actually be so delivered in order to gain the seller a sales tax exemption under section 6396 of the Sales and Use Tax Law (§ 6001 et seq.), (2) if so, whether the buyer’s certification that the trucks will be delivered out-of-state shifts liability for the sales tax to the buyer under section 6421, and (3) whether the board may be estopped to collect the tax on the facts of this case.

Background

The case concerns 42 Peterbilt trucks sold by Engs during March 1976 to May 1978 for shipment by a carrier to designated locations in Arizona where delivery to the buyer was to have occurred. The sales invoice and bill of lading in each instance reflected an Arizona delivery point, and each buyer certified on a Department of Motor Vehicles “Statement of…