Stewarts' Pharmacies, Ltd. v. Fase

1 Citing case

  1. State v. Medeiros

    89 Haw. 361 (Haw. 1999)   Cited 24 times
    In Medeiros, a defendant who pled guilty to a charge of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle filed a motion to enjoin enforcement of chapter 6, article 52 of the Revised Ordinances of the City and County of Honolulu (ROCCH) (Supp.

    However, "[t]he nature of the tax [or "charge"] that a law imposes is not determined by the label given to it but by its operating incidence." Stewart's Pharmacies v. Fase, 43 Haw. 131, 144, reh'g denied, 43 Haw. 166 (1959) (citation omitted). See also City of Huntington v. Bacon, 473 S.E.2d 743, 752 (W. Va. 1996) ("It is [a] well-nigh universal principle that courts will determine and classify taxation on the basis of realities, rather than what the tax is called in the taxing statute or ordinance."