The first occupation tax imposed by Texas on telephone companies was in 1882, and was a state tax of $50 and a county tax of $10. The state tax was, unlike the other corporation occupation taxes, collected by the county collector. In 1892 the receipts from it were $200. In 1893 a state tax of 25 cents on each telephone in use replaced the fixed tax, and it was denied to counties and municipalities to levy any occupation tax on the business. This state tax was payable to the state treasurer, and it produced in 1894 $1,158. This remained the method of taxation until 1905, when a tax of 2 1/2% on gross receipts was enacted. In 1907 the rate was reduced to 1 1/2%, payable quarterly to the state treasurer.2 Telephone companies are subject to the property tax and the franchise tax, but to no county or municipal occupation taxation. In 1910 the gross receipts tax produced $81,350; in 1915, $150,728.

1 W. U. Tel. Co. v. State of Texas, 105 U. S., 460 (1881). See also 55 Tex., 314 (1881), and 62 Tex., 630 (1884). 2Rev. Civil Stats.. 1911, art. 7382.