Occidental Life Insurance v. State Board of Equalization

Nature of Appeal:

The Issue and our Holding:

Discussion:

Appellants contend the test for determining the legal incidence of sales taxes set forth in Western Lithograph has been repudiated in favor of the test set forth in Agricultural Bank v. Tax Comm’n (1968) 392 U.S. 339 [ 20 L.Ed.2d 1138 , 88 S.Ct. 2173 ] (hereafter Agricultural Bank); under the latter test and as expressly ruled by the Supreme Court of the United States, Diamond National v. State Equalization Bd. (1976) 425 U.S. 268 [ 47 L.Ed.2d 780 , 96 S.Ct. 1530 ] (hereafter Diamond National ( 425 U.S. 268 )), the incidence of the California sales tax is squarely and exclusively on the consumer. Appellants further bolster their claim by the statement that the “formalistic test for determining the ‘legal incidence’ of the California Sales Tax applied in Western Lithograph ... was abandoned by the California Supreme Court in the landmark case of Western States Bankcard Assn. v. City and County of San Francisco (1977) 19 Cal.3d 208 [hereafter Western Bankcard] in favor of the more realistic substantive test adopted by the United States Supreme Court in Agricultural National Bank of Berkshire County v. State Tax…