National Ice & Cold Storage Co. v. Pacific Fruit Express Co.

On July 31, 1933, a statute known as the “Retail Sales Tax Act of 1933” (Stats. 1933, p. 2599) became effective. As far as here is important, the title of that statute is "An Act imposing a tax for the privilege of selling tangible personal property and for the privilege of furnishing, preparing or serving tangible personal property, providing for permits to retailers, (and) providing for the levying, assessing, collecting, paying and disposing of such tax, ...” In part, section 3 of the statute provides that, “For the privilege of selling tangible personal property at retail a tax is hereby imposed upon retailers. ...” Various other excerpts from the statute which contain implications of the fact that the tax' was intended to be levied upon retailers, are as follows: by section 9, it is provided that “The tax levied hereunder shall be a direct obligation of the retailer; . . . The retailer shall . . . make out a return . . . The retailer shall deliver the return together with a remittance of the amount of the tax due to the office of the board. ” By section 12, retailers are required to obtain permits to engage in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail. By…