People ex rel. Vernon Metal & Produce Co v. Law

Hinman, J.:

The sole issue involved is whether the relator was a mercantile corporation and taxable as such under article 9-A of the Tax Law, as amended in 1918. Relator was merely a broker in metals, spices and rubber. Its only business was to negotiate purchases and sales for others. It received instructions from clients who had merchandise for sale, to find buyers for this merchandise and vice versa. Ninety-five per cent of its business was transacted over the telephone by two of the officers of the relator. It acted merely as an intermediary between prospective buyers and sellers and the…