Ebasco Servs., Inc. v. Ariz. State Tax Comm'n

In Ebasco Servs., Inc. v. Ariz. State Tax Comm'n, 105 Ariz. 94, 98, 459 P.2d 719, 723 (1969), the Arizona Supreme Court held that amounts paid by a utility for electric generation equipment were not gross income to its construction contractor because the contractor purchased the equipment in the name of the utility as its purchasing agent. 105 Ariz. at 95-97, 459 P.2d at 720-22. The court looked to the ownership of the property and found the property was never owned by Ebasco. The court declined to attribute ownership to Ebasco because "there has been no change of ownership and the Court will not create such a legal fiction for the sole purpose of attaching tax liability." Id. at 96-97, 459 P.2d at 721-22.