Central of Georgia Railway Company v. William Wricht No 85 Georgia Railroad Banking Company v. William Wright No 89
Decision Date | 18 November 1907 |
Docket Number | 89,No. 85,Nos. 85,s. 85,85 |
Parties | CENTRAL OF GEORGIA RAILWAY COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. WILLIAM A. WRICHT, Comptroller General of Georgia, and John W. Nelms, Sheriff of Fulton County. NO 85. GEORGIA RAILROAD & BANKING COMPANY, Plff. in Err., v. WILLIAM A. WRIGHT, Comptroller General of Georgia, and John W. Nelms, Sheriff of Fulton County. NO 89 |
Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. T. M. Cunningham, Jr., Henry C. Cunningham, A. R. Lawton, and Alexander C. King, for plaintiff in error in No. 85.
Mr. John C. Hart for defendants in error in No. 85.
Messrs. Joseph R. Lamar, Joseph B. Cumming, and Alex. C. King for plaintiff in error in No. 89.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 128-130 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Boykin Wright and John C. Hart for defendants in error in No. 89.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 130-131 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:
These cases are writs of error to the supreme court of the state of Georgia, in suits brought to enjoin the collection of certain taxes. In the view we take of them they may be considered together.
Actions were begun by the plaintiffs in error, in the superior court of Fulton county, to enjoin the enforcement of executions in the hands of the sheriff, issued for taxes assessed by the comptroller general on shares of the corporate stock of the Western Railway of Alabama, an Alabama corporation, which stock was alleged to be held and owned by the plaintiffs in error.
The superior court refused to award an injunction.
Upon writs of error the supreme court affirmed the judgments of the court below. 124 Ga. 596, 630, 53 S. E. 251, 207. The cases were remitted to the superior court of Fulton county and that court rendered final decrees in favor of the defendants below, holding the tax executions to be lawful. The cases were again taken to the supreme court of Georgia and there affirmed. 125 Ga. 589, 617, 54 S. E. 52, 64.
The question of the taxability of these shares was a matter of litigation in the Federal courts of the Georgia district, and it was held such shares were not taxable. 116 Fed. 669 Affirmed in the court of appeals, 54 C. C. A. 672, 117 Fed. 1007. The latter case was reversed and the stock held taxable in the case of Wright v. Louisville & N. R. Co. decided by this court at the October term, 1904. 195 U. S. 219, 49 L. ed. 167, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 16.
Thereupon says the supreme court of Georgia:
The first and perhaps principal question argued in the case arises upon the contention of the plaintiffs in error that the method of assessment provided for the taxation of property in such cases as the present, as laid down in the statutes of the state of Georgia, as construed by the supreme court of the state, do not afford the taxpayer due process of law. The pertinent sections of the Political Code of Georgia are copied in the margin.
Section 804. Returns to Comptroller, How Made. The returns of all companies or persons required to be made to the comptroller general must be in writing and sworn to by the presiding officer, etc.
Section 805. Ruturns and Taxes, etc. The returns of all railroad and insurance and express companies, and agents of foreign companies, authorized in this state, shall be made to the comptroller general by the first day of May in each year, and the taxes thereof paid to the state treasurer by the first day of October, and not later than December twentieth of each year.
Section 812. Returns to Comptroller Must be Itemized. Whenever corporations, companies, persons, agencies, or institutions are required by law to make returns of property, or gross receipts, or business, or income, gross, annual, net, or any other kind, or any other return, to the comptroller general, for taxation, such return shall contain an itemized statement of property, each class or species to be separately named and valued, or an itemized account of gross receipts, or business, or income, as above defined, or othermatters required to be returned, and in case of net income only, an itemized account of gross receipts and expenditures, to show how the income returned is ascertained, and such returns shall be carefully scrutinized by the comptroller general, and if, in his judgment, the property embraced therein is returned below its value, he shall assess the value, within sixty day thereafter, from any information he can obtain, and if he shall find a return of gross receipts, or business, or income, as above defined, or other Of the system of taxation thus provided the supreme court of Georgia, in a summary of its provisions, says:
'The Political Code, § 812, prescribes the method by which 'corporations, companies, persons, agencies, or institutions,' shall make returns of their property to the comptroller general for taxation, and provides that Section 813 is as follows: 'In cases of failure to make return, the comptroller general shall make an assessment from the best information he can procure, which assessment shall be conclusive upon said corporations, companies, persons, agencies, or institutions.' By § 814 it is provided that 'in all cases of default of payment of taxes upon returns or assessments, the comptroller general shall enforce collections in the manner now provided by law.' 'If any corporation, company, person, agency, or institution, who are required to make their returns to the comptroller general, shall fail to return the taxable property or specifics, or pay annually the taxes for which they are liable to the state treasury, the comptroller general shall issue against them an execution for the amount of taxes due, according to law, together with the costs and penalties.' Section 874. 'When there is no return by which to assess the tax, the comptroller general shall, from the best information he can procure, assess in his discretion.' Section 879. These sections of the Political Code are thus set out in order that we may have before us at the outset the various statutes bearing on the power of the comptroller general to collect taxes on property which has not been returned. And at this point we will take occasion to say that, in our opinion, all considerations of the good faith of the railroad...
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