Burlington County v. Martin

• Decision Date: 07 March 1942
• Docket Number: No. 14.,14.
• Citation: 25 A.2d 17,128 N.J.L. 203
• Parties: BURLINGTON COUNTY et al. v. MARTIN, State Tax Commissioner, et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

25 A.2d 17

128 N.J.L. 203

BURLINGTON COUNTY et al.

v. MARTIN, State Tax Commissioner, et al.

No. 14.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

March 7, 1942.

Proceeding by the County of Burlington and Frank A. Snover, treasurer of the County of Burlington against J. H. Thayer Martin, State Tax Commissioner of the State of New Jersey, and others, for an alternative writ of mandamus directed against respondents to require payment to county of a proportionate share of interest collected on transfer inheritance tax assessed against the estate of a deceased resident of the county.

Judgment in favor of respondents.

Oct. term. 1941, before BROGAN, C. J, and HEHER, J.

Powell & Parker, of Mount Holly (Harold T. Parker, of Mount Holly, and Arthur T. Vanderbilt, of Newark, of counsel), for relators.

David T. Wilentz, Atty. Gen. (William A. Moore, Asst. Atty. Gen, of counsel), for respondents.

BROGAN, Chief Justice.

By virtue of R.S. 54:33-10, P.L. 1909, Chap. 238, p. 375, as amended by P.L. 1931, Chap. 198, p. 497, N.J.S.A. 54:33-10, the County of Burlington received five per-centum of the transfer inheritance tax assessed against the Estate of John T. Dorrance, who died on Sept. 21, 1930, a resident of that county. The tax, in the amount of $12, 183,459.96, was not paid to the State until the fiscal year 1936-1937 and the accrued interest amounted to $3,437,333.49. The County of Burlington, under the statute, supra, received its proportionate share of the principal sum from the State Comptroller on July 7, 1936, which amounted to $609,173, and almost four years later, i. e, on June 14, 1940, made written demand for five per-centum of the interest collected by the State. The question in this case, raised by an alternative mandamus directed against the State Tax Commissioner, the State Comptroller of the Treasury, and the State Treasurer, is whether the relators' claim to a share of the interest is valid.

The theory upon which the relator would justify its claim is that interest "follows the tax as an accretion thereto" or is part thereof and that under our statute, supra, the county is entitled to have allocated to it its proportionate share of the interest. This theory is challenged by the respondents. Their plea avers that the State has on no occasion remitted any part of interest or penalties collected on transfer inheritance taxes to any county; that the relator is in laches; that at the instance of the relator (since the statute is silent on this issue) proposed legislation was prepared and introduced into the New Jersey Legislature to accomplish a participation for counties in the amount of interest collected, in these circumstances, and that these several bills failed to pass; and, finally, that the regulations and practice in the State Departments concerned with these matters do not recognize the claim of a county to participate in the interest or penalties assessed on transfer inheritance taxes. Issue was joined and the facts, as above outlined, are not in dispute.

The main argument of the relators is that since the statute is silent concerning what is to be done with said interest as such, it was the legislative intention that interest should follow the tax and that the county of decedent's residence is entitled to share in the gross sum collected by the State. The statute reads as follows:

"54:33-10. After the close of each fiscal year the state comptroller shall draw his warrant on the state treasurer in favor of the county treasurer of each county for five per cent of the amount of tax collected under chapters 33 to 36 of this title (§ 54:-33-1 et seq.), from property of resident decedents in the county during the fiscal year, as certified to the comptroller by the state tax commissioner, whereupon the same shall be paid out of the state treasury."

The statutes, this and kindred enactments, having to do with the lien, collection and disposition of inheritance taxes, make no mention of the disposition of the interest. See R.S. 54:35-5; 54:35-6; 54:-35-8, N.J.S.A. 54:35-5, 54:35-6, 54:35-8.

The origin of Inheritance Tax in New Jersey was the...