Signal Oil & Gas Co. v. State Board of Equalization
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Beach, J.
In two cases that were consolidated for trial, Signal Oil (Signal) sued the State Board of Equalization (Board) for recovery of motor vehicle fuel license tax paid after defendant Board collected deficiencies from Signal Oil. The deficiencies represent the difference between tax on temperature-corrected gallons of gasoline and volumetric gallons; Signal had used the former measure, and the Board claims it should have used a volumetric measure. Judgment was for the Board, and Signal appeals.
*552 Facts:
The case was heard on a stipulation of facts and the testimony of two witnesses for Signal. The volatile nature of gasoline, with its properties of expansion and contraction, is at the heart of this lawsuit. Signal tried to pay its tax based on “temperature-corrected” gallons of gasoline, a measure by which the gallonage delivered is decreased or increased from its actual (“volumetric”) gallonage to the gallonage it would be at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature-corrected gallonage is acceptable for tax purposes, but only if certain requirements are met; whether Signal met those requirements is the issue herein.