Cumberland Presbyterian Church of the U.S. v. Burbank
| Decision Date | 17 March 1925 |
| Docket Number | No. 36148.,36148. |
| Citation | 202 N.W. 834,199 Iowa 739 |
| Parties | CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES v. BURBANK, STATE TREASURER. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from District Court, Des Moines County; Oscar Hale, Judge.
Action to recover from the state collateral inheritance tax paid in the estate of John T. Laughlin. Plaintiff's petition was dismissed, and it appeals. Affirmed.Galer & Galer, of Mount Pleasant, for appellant.
Ben J. Gibson, Atty. Gen., and Herbert A. Huff, and B. J. Powers, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.
John T. Laughlin, a resident of Des Moines county, Iowa, died testate on the 17th day of July, 1920. Upon the probate of his will due proceedings were had thereunder resulting in the payment of a collateral inheritance tax to the state, including $5,000 on a bequest made in said will to the appellant. The appellant, under the provisions of the then existing collateral inheritance tax law, seeks to recover the $5,000 tax thus paid.
So far as this matter is concerned, the material part of the will is as follows:
The case was tried on a stipulated record, in which, among other things, it is stated that the executor of the Laughlin estate deducted the $5,000 for collateral inheritance tax and paid the same to the treasurer of the state of Iowa. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church of the United States is a corporation organized for religious purposes under the laws of the state of Kentucky. It is one of the class of organizations designated in the statute as a religous organization. It embraces local churches or branches located in various parts of the United States, some of said local churches or branches existing within the state of Iowa, and such local churches or branches are incorporated under the laws of this state as distinct and separate organizations, but are affiliated with and are a part of the general corporation known as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of the United States, and as such are entitled to receive, under the laws of the organization of said church, whatever portion of said fund may be alloted to them by the proper officers.
It is further stipulated that no specific part of this bequest is required by the terms of the bequest to be paid to any local organization or branch of said church, and whether said local church receives such aid or assistance depends upon the discretion of the proper officers of said church, and not under any requirement or rule of the church; that said bequest, less the collateral inheritance tax, has been paid by the said executor to the said church.
Under these facts the appellant insists that it is entitled to recover from the said treasurer the money thus paid.
The statute in operation at the time of the death of Laughlin required the executor of his estate to pay to the treasurer of state the collateral inheritance tax of 5 per cent. on the value of all bequests and devises that went collaterally. The exception to the act reads as follows:
“The tax imposed by this act shall not be collected * * * (b) when the property passes to societies or institutions within this state incorporated for educational or religious purposes, or to cemetery associations or societies within this state organized for purposes of public charity, including humane societies.” Section 3, chap. 38, Acts of the 39th G. A.
Under the conceded facts and stipulated record in this case, it is admitted that the appellant is a religious corporation under the laws of the state of Kentucky, and no question is raised but that it is the kind of corporation that comes within the provisions of this exemption, and the question therefore is narrowed down to the point of a construction of the phrase “within this state” as used in said section of the statute.
It is the claim of the appellant that while it is incorporated under the laws of the state of Kentucky, said incorporation is merely incidental to its church work, as it has members and branches or local churches in various states of the Union and especially in the state of Iowa; that by reason of these local branches (which are incorporated under the laws of the state of Iowa), it therefore is “within this state” as contemplated by the statute, and it is to this question that we will devote our attention.
It is thought that in the former decisions of this court the construction put upon this phrase is too narrow, and that the...
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