Coates v. United States, 254.
| Decision Date | 06 May 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 254.,254. |
| Parties | COATES v. UNITED STATES. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Ewing Everett, Malcolm Johnson, and Miller & Chevalier, all of New York City, for appellant.
Samuel O. Clark, Assistant Attorney General, and Sewall Key and Edward H. Hammond, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Before L. HAND, AUGUSTUS N. HAND, and PATTERSON, Circuit Judges.
The plaintiff in 1931 and 1932 was attorney for a number of villages in the State of New York and received compensation for his services. He reported such compensation in his income tax return for 1931 and paid tax accordingly. For 1932 he also reported such compensation, but after paying the first two installments of tax on the basis called for in the return he made up his mind that compensation as attorney for the villages was not taxable income. The two installments paid on account of the 1932 tax being in excess of the entire tax due for that year if the income received from the villages were eliminated, he withheld payment of the remaining installments and filed an amended return and claim for refund as to each year. The claims were rejected, and the plaintiff brought action under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 41(20), 28 U.S.C.A. § 41(20), for recovery of the alleged overpayments. The collector later demanded the two remaining installments of the 1932 tax. The plaintiff paid them, filed another claim for refund, which was rejected, and set forth these further facts in a supplemental complaint. The case was tried on agreed facts. The district court dismissed the case on the merits.
The plaintiff is a lawyer in active practice. In 1931 he was attorney for seven villages, in 1932 for the same seven and two more. He was appointed by resolutions of the village boards, the resolutions in most cases fixing his compensation at so much a year exclusive of services in litigation. His duties as village attorney were not defined by statute or ordinance, although appointment of a village attorney was authorized by state law. The services covered a wide range of activities and altogether took about nine-tenths of his working time. His appointments as village attorney did not preclude him from general practice. He maintained a private law office and employed a secretary at his own expense. None of the villages provided office space. He took no oath of office.
The defendant urges that the district court did not have jurisdiction of the suit because the plaintiff, it is said, had not paid the entire tax for 1932 when he brought suit. The point did not impress the district judge and does not impress us. The contention that only a part of the 1932 tax had been paid when the action was brought involves the merits, not the jurisdiction. If the plaintiff's view as to the compensation received from the villages was sound, he had paid the entire tax and more when he started his action. It is pressing technicality beyond all bounds to say that a taxpayer who has made a return on an excessive basis and has paid installments which are more than the correct amount of tax before discovering his error, must pay the remaining installments indicated by the incorrect return on pain of losing his remedy to recover the overpayment. The proposition has neither reason nor authority in its favor. We reject the jurisdictional point and pass on to the merits.
Prior to Graves v. New York ex rel. O'Keefe, 306 U.S. 466, 59 S.Ct. 595, 83 L.Ed. 927, 120 A.L.R. 1466, it was...
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