What is the difference between the terms "license fee" and "license tax"?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Citrus Belt Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. California Franchise Tax Bd., 218 Cal.App.2d 584, 32 Cal.Rptr. 579 (Cal. App. 1963):

Both parties have favored this court with engaging and scholarly analyses of the distinctions between the various governmental charges that have been exacted under the denominative terms 'license', 'license fee', 'license tax', etc. Thus, as pointed out in Ingels v. Riley, 5 Cal.2d 154, 159, 53 P.2d 939, 103 A.L.R. 1, a charge entitled 'license fee' may be a property tax, an excise or privilege tax, or a regulatory charge imposed under the state's police powers. The inherent distinction between governmental charges designed to produce general revenue and those calculated merely to produce sufficient funds from regulated activities to cover the cost of such regulations was recognized by the framers of the United States Constitution when they provided in Article, I, Section 10, Clause 2 thereof as follows:

Other Questions


What is the difference between a determinate-term and indeterminate term sentence for a murder conviction? (California, United States of America)
What is the difference between general revenue taxes and sales and use taxes? (California, United States of America)
What is the difference between a denial of an application for a license (nonvested right) and a subsequent suspension or revocation of a license? (California, United States of America)
Can a defendant receive a separate sentence for unlawful acts committed at different times for different amounts of money against different victims? (California, United States of America)
What is the difference between a special tax and a general tax? (California, United States of America)
What is the difference between a property tax and an excise tax? (California, United States of America)
What is the difference between a manufacturer's tax and a manufacturing tax? (California, United States of America)
Does the receiver of a property that is not subject to a deed of trust, including a liquor license, have the right to use the personal property other than the liquor license? (California, United States of America)
If defense counsel had objected to the upper term of imprisonment, would the court have chosen to impose the lower term? (California, United States of America)
Can an act or omission that is publishable in a different way by different sections of the law be punished under section 654 of the California Criminal Code? (California, United States of America)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.