Commonwealth Life Ins. Co. v. City of Paducah

• Decision Date: 24 June 1932
• Citation: 244 Ky. 756
• Parties: Commonwealth Life Insurance Company v. City of Paducah.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

244 Ky. 756

Commonwealth Life Insurance Company v. City of Paducah.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Decided June 24, 1932.

1. Licenses. — Law exempting stock of domestic insurance company from taxation other than as provided therein held not to exempt such companies from occupational license tax (Ky. Stats., sec. 4237a-1).

Ky. Stats., sec. 4237a-1 purporting to exempt domestic life insurance companies from taxation other than as imposed thereon, when read in connection with title referring only to fixing of rate of taxation on capital stock and limiting local rate of taxation thereon, could not be extended so as to exempt company from payment of occupational license tax.

2. Constitutional Law. — Courts have duty, in case of doubt, to construe act so as to make it constitutional, if possible.

3. Taxation. — Exemption from taxation must be strictly construed.

Appeal from McCracken Circuit Court.

J.D. MOCQUOT, and BATSON, CARY & WELCH, for appellant.

W.V. EATON for appellee.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY CHIEF JUSTICE DIETZMAN.

Affirming.

In 1926, the Legislature passed an act which became chapter 99 of the Acts of that year, and now section 4237a-1 of the 1930 Edition of the Statutes. We quote that part of the statute which is pertinent to this controversy:

"An Act relating to the taxation of domestic life insurance companies, fixing the annual State rate on the shares of stock thereof, prescribing how the value of said shares of stock shall be determined, and to whom the taxes shall be paid, and limiting the local rate of taxation thereon for county, city, town and other taxing districts; providing for the taxation of real estate owned by such companies, and for a referendum if desired; repealing and re-enacting section 4237a (1) and (2) of Kentucky Statutes, Carroll's edition 1922, and repealing all laws or parts of laws in conflict herewith.

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. . .

"(a) For the purposes of taxation, the net cash value, or reserve, on all outstanding policies of all life insurance companies chartered by and doing business in the State of Kentucky, shall be deemed to be, and held as, the property of the respective policy-holders, and shall not be listed for taxation by such domestic life insurance companies; but domestic life insurance companies shall pay annually for state purposes to the sheriff of the county in which the company is located, the shares of stock of said companies, tax at the annual rate of 50c on each one hundred dollars of the fair cash value of the said shares of stock of said companies, the value thereof to be fixed and determined in the same manner as the value of shares of stocks of national banks, state bank and trust companies is now fixed for purposes of taxation; and such tax shall be for state purposes only and in lieu of all other taxes by the state or any county, city, town or other taxing district; except that it shall be the duty of such companies to list with the county tax commissioner of each county, and with the assessing officer in each city, town and taxing district, its real estate located therein and pay taxes thereon to the sheriff and to the collecting officer of each city, town and taxing district, and such officer shall make out and return the assessment thereof to the proper authorities of the county, city, town or taxing district, at the same times, and in the same manner as prescribed by law for the return on the assessment of other...