2018 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 47 - Revenue and Taxation
RS 47:1003 - Definitions

§1003. Definitions

As used in this Part, the following words have the meaning ascribed to them in this Section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) "Public utility" means railroads and railways, sleeping cars, motor bus lines, motor freight lines, express companies, telegraph companies, boat or packet lines, and pipe lines, as herein defined. The term public utility shall not include publicly owned ambulance companies.

(2) "Railroads and railways" shall be construed to mean any person owning or operating, or owning and operating, for hire, a horse, gas, gasoline, or steam railroad and railway, or railroad or railway, in this state, or owning or operating, or owning and operating any station, depot, track, terminal, or bridge in this state for railroad or railway purposes.

(3) "Sleeping cars" means any person, firm, association or corporation, domestic or foreign, (not being a railroad company as defined in Paragraph (2) of this Section) owning or operating, or owning and operating for compensation any cars known as dining, buffet, chair, parlor or sleeping cars, which are operated upon railroads or railways within this state, unless the ownership of such cars be identical with that of the railroads on which they are operated.

(4) "Motor bus lines" means any person engaging in the business of transporting passengers for hire within this state where the route of such business extends ten miles or more beyond the corporate limits of any municipality and such transportation is accomplished in any automobile, or any other self propelled vehicle or vehicles used in connection therewith not operated or driven upon fixed rails or tracks.

(5) "Motor freight lines" means motor carriers as defined in R.S. 45:162(10) engaging in the business of transporting waste as defined in R.S. 45:162(18) for hire in this state, such transportation being accomplished in any automobile, automobile truck, or any other self-propelled vehicle or vehicles used in connection therewith not operated or driven upon fixed rails or tracks. The term "motor freight lines" shall not be construed to include:

(a) Any farmer, merchant, manufacturer, or any other person, who engages exclusively and solely in transporting farm, forestry, or other products of the natural resources of this state, in their raw stage, or in the form they are customarily produced, between the point of production and the primary market for such products. Primary market shall not mean a receiving station, shipping point, or concentration point.

(b) A co-operative association transporting property belonging to the association or its members, where no charges are made for profit for such transportation.

(c)(i) Except as provided in Item (ii) herein, any person engaged wholly and solely in the transportation of freight or property originating at and destined to points within the corporate limits of the same city or town or within a seven-mile zone adjacent to such city or town; and where freight or property is transported by a contract carrier to or from railroad or boat freight depots and docks located within the limits of a city or town and to or from a point located within the corporate limits of such city or town or within a seven-mile zone adjacent thereto, such railroad or boat freight depots and docks shall, as to freight or property thus transported therefrom, be deemed the point of origin, and as to freight or property transported thereto, the destination of such freight or property.

(ii) Any person engaged wholly and solely in the transportation of freight or property originating at and destined to points anywhere within Jefferson or Orleans parishes or within a seven-mile zone adjacent to such parishes; and where freight or property is transported by a contract carrier to or from railroad or boat freight depots and docks located within the limits of a city or town and to or from a point located within either parish or within a seven-mile zone adjacent to such parishes, such railroad or boat freight depots and docks shall, as to freight or property thus transported therefrom, be deemed the point of origin, and as to freight or property transported thereto, the destination of such freight or property.

(d) Any person engaged in the business of transporting coin, currency, bullion and associated money transfers and other objects of unusual value in armored cars under private contracts of carriage.

(e) Any person engaged in the business of transporting household goods, as defined in R.S. 45:162(17).

(6) "Express companies" means any person, firm, association or corporation, domestic or foreign, engaged in the express business on any railroad, steamboat, or vessel in the state.

(7) Repealed by Acts 1990, No. 388, §2, eff. Aug. 1, 1990.

(8) "Telegraph companies" means any person, firm, association or corporation, domestic or foreign, owning and operating, or owning or operating, any telegraph or cable line in this state with appliances for the transmission of messages and engaged in the business of furnishing telegraph service for compensation.

(9) "Boat or packet lines" means any person engaged in the business of transporting passengers and property, or passengers or property for hire in this state, such transportation being accomplished in or on a steamboat, barge, or any other vessel, regardless of the propelling power used, except ferry boats; it shall not include any person engaged in the business of furnishing merely propelling power, as, for example, by means of a tug, towboat, launch or lugger, to those engaged in the business of transporting passengers and property or passengers or property for hire in this state. The term "boat or packet lines" shall not be construed to include any person engaged in the business of furnishing merely propelling power for steamboats, barges or any other vessels or furnishing such barges or vessels to those engaged in the business of transporting passengers or property for hire, on a per diem, contractual or charter basis, and shall not be construed to include any farmer, merchant, manufacturer, or other person, who engages exclusively and solely in transporting farm, forestry, or other products of the natural resources of this state, in their raw stage, or in the form they are customarily produced, between the point of production and the primary market for such products. Primary market shall not mean a receiving station, shipping point, or concentration point.

(10) "Pipe lines" means any person engaging in the business of transporting oil within this state for hire.

(11)(a) "Gross receipts" means the total amount of billings for services rendered and all receipts from business beginning and ending within the state except for the transportation of passengers or freight or property originating at and destined to points within the corporate limits of the same city or town or within a seven-mile zone adjacent to such city or town and except for the transportation of passengers or freight or property originating at and destined to points anywhere within Jefferson or Orleans parishes or within a seven-mile zone adjacent to such parishes.

(b) "Gross receipts" of a motor freight line, as defined in Paragraph (5) of this Section, shall include only receipts from billings for the actual transportation or movement of waste as defined in R.S. 45:162(18) and shall not include any other receipts which are incidental to the transportation or movement of such waste, including receipts from the imposition of a fuel surcharge, even if the receipts are a direct or immediate result of the transportation or movement of waste.

Acts 1964, No. 300, §1; Acts 1965, No. 34, §1; Acts 1984, No. 294, §1, eff. Sept. 1, 1984; Acts 1985, No. 305, §1; Acts 1988, No. 921, §1; Acts 1990, No. 388, §§1, 2, eff. Aug. 1, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 291, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1991; Acts 1996, No. 18, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2007, No. 465, §1, eff. July 11, 2007; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 42, §1.