The appellant filed a bill in the District Court for Southern Iowa, seeking a declaration that the laws of Iowa laying a tax on motor vehicle fuel violate state and federal constitutional provisions, and an injunction against their enforcement by state officers. A temporary injunction issued, but a court of three judges, upon final hearing, dismissed the suit. The case is here on direct appeal.
The General Assembly of the state, in order to raise revenue for the improvement of highways, imposed a license fee of two cents per gallon on all motor vehicle fuel 'used or otherwise disposed of in this state for any purpose whatsoever'; and directed that 'Any person using motor vehicle fuel within the state shall be liable for the fee herein provided for unless the same shall have been previously paid.' By a later statute an additional license fee of one cent per gallon was imposed. The law (Code Iowa 1931, § 5093-a2 et seq.) defines 'distributor' as 'any person who brings into the state or who produces, refines, manufactures or compounds within the state any motor vehicle fuel to be used within the state or sold or otherwise disposed of by him within the state for use in the state.' 'Person' is defined to include partnerships, corporations, and associations. One who sells at retail is required to keep posted in a public place a placard showing the total sale price per gallon, including license fee, and to have printed on the placard the words, 'state license fee included.' It is declared unlawful to conduct the business of a distributor unless a certificate giving certain information is filed with the state treasurer and a license is procured permitting the conduct of that business. Every distributor is required on or before the twentieth day of each calendar month to file with the state treasurer a report showing the total number of gallons imported by him during the preceding calendar month, with details as to each shipment, and at the same time to remit to the treasurer the amount of the license fee for such preceding month; he may, however, deduct 3 per cent. of the gallonage for evaporation and loss. If after the fee is remitted the fuel is destroyed by casualty not due to the fault of the distributor, before being sold or used, a refund of the tax paid thereon is to be made by the state treasurer. The act declares that its provisions are not to apply to foreign or interstate commerce. (As distributors import gasoline into Iowa for reshipment to other states, the state treasurer has, in the administration of the acts, permitted a deduction in the monthly reports of any gasoline so sold and reshipped to points outside the state.)
There is provision that one using fuel purchased for a purpose other than for a motor vehicle may, upon making claim upon the state treasurer in proper form and in due time, obtain a refund of the amount of the tax paid in respect of it.
A penalty of 10 per cent. of the amount of the tax is imposed upon a distributor who fails to remit on or before the twentieth of the month following the importation. The Attorney General is empowered to bring action on behalf of the state against any distributor who is in default for thirty days in payment of tax. The state treasurer is authorized to revoke the license of a distributor who fails to render the prescribed reports, or renders a false report, or fails to pay the license fee when due, and he need not renew the license until satisfied that the applicant will in future comply with the law. Distributors are required to permit inspection of their books, records, papers, invoices, and equipment. It is made a misdemeanor for a distributor or any principal officer to refuse to submit the prescribed reports and certificates to the treasurer, or to refuse an examination of books, records, and equipment by the treasurer or his representatives, or to violate other provisions.