Fairland Amusements, Inc. v. State Tax Commission

Full title: FAIRLAND AMUSEMENTS, INC., Appellant, v. STATE TAX COMMISSION, Respondent

Court: Court of Appeals of the State of New York

Date published: Dec 17, 1985

66 N.Y.2d 932 (N.Y. 1985)

498 N.Y.S.2d 796

489 N.E.2d 765

Opinion

Argued November 15, 1985

Decided December 17, 1985

Appeal from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the Third Judicial Department, Con. G. Cholakis, J.

Gabriel J. Ferber for appellant.

Robert Abrams, Attorney-General (Francis V. Dow, Robert Hermann and Peter H. Schiff of counsel), for respondent.

Order reversed, with costs, and judgment granted in favor of plaintiff declaring that the sale of tickets for the use of plaintiff's rides is not subject to sales tax pursuant to Tax Law § 1105 (f) (1). We agree with the dissenters below that there is an ambiguity in the statutory scheme which must be construed most strongly in favor of the taxpayer and against the government, and that defendant's reliance upon its own regulation is misplaced because the regulation runs counter to the statute it was intended to implement.

Concur: Chief Judge WACHTLER and Judges JASEN, MEYER, SIMONS, KAYE, ALEXANDER and TITONE.