BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
499
CONSERVATION, ARCHEOLOGY AND GEOLOGY-Salt Water Fisheries
To Hon. S. E. Rice, Supervis01'. of Conservation:
Our Supreme Court has ruled that Chapter 19611, Laws of Florida,
1939, to which you refer, is applicable only to wholesalers and retailers
in salt water food products, that it does not include the dealing in sponges
.as sponges are a salt water product but not a food product.
It is my opinion, in view of the holding in the above case, that deal­
ers and/or wholesalers of conch shells or other sea shells are not subject
to the license tax provided in Chapter 19611, Laws of Florida, 1939.
In order that YOU will not misunderstand my opinion, I draw this
example, to-wit: Curio shops, for instance, selling or handling conch
shells are not subject to the license tax. If the conch or the sea shell
fish is being handled or dealt in as food, then the said Chapter is
applicable,
SALT WATER FISHERIES
April 8, 1941.-041-186.
LICENSES-EXEMPTION TO WAR VETERANS
QUESTION: Are World War veterans or any others exempt from
paying a dealer's license under Chapter 19611, Laws of Florida, 1939?
To Hon. S. E. Rice, Supervis01'. of Conservation:
It is my opinion that the tax that is provided in Chapter 19611, Laws
of Florida, 1939, is a license tax and not an occupational' tax, for the
reason that an occupational tax is one that is levied or exacted for the
purpose of raising revenue for State or County purposes. You will ob­
serve from the reading of Section 1 of said chapter that the proceeds
derived by the Supervisor of Conservation from the issuance of licenses
shall be deposited in the state Treasury to the credit of the Conserva­
.tion Fund for the use of the Conservation Department.
The Act which exempted disabled Veterans from the payment of
an occupational tax is Chapter 17476, Laws of Florida, 1935, and there
is some doubt in my mind as to what.the Act intended. That is, was
the Act intended to exempt Veterans only. from the payment of an
occupational tax, as one is led to believe i.n the reading of the title
of the Act, or was it intended to exempt these Veterans from the pay­
ment of any tax, be it a license or an occupational tax? In the reading
of the first- section of this chapter, Chapter 17476, Acts of 1937, you will
observe that it provides for the Veterans to be granted a license to en­
gage in any business or occupation in the State of Florida.· I also call
your attention to Chapter 18011, Laws of Florida, 1937,. and in particular
to Section 35 thereof, which provides:
"Fees or licenses paid to any board, commission or office for per­
mits, registration, examination, inspection or other regulatory purposes
shall· be in addition to and not in lieu of any occupational license tax
required by this Act or other law unless otherwise expressly provided
by law."
My predecessors in office have held that there. is no exemption from
the payment of dealers' or wholesalers' licenses provided for under Chap­
ter 19611, supra, other than as specifically mentioned in said Act, and I
concur in their opinion.