Lee v. Quincy State Bank
| Citation | 127 Fla. 765,173 So. 909 |
| Parties | LEE, Comptroller v. QUINCY STATE BANK et al. |
| Decision Date | 22 April 1937 |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Suit by Quincy State Bank and another against J. M. Lee, as Comptroller of the State of Florida. From an adverse judgment, defendant appeals.
Affirmed. Appeal from Circuit Court, Gadsden County; E C. Love, Judge.
Cary D Landis, Atty. Gen., and H. E. Carter and W. P. Allen, Asst Attys. Gen., for appellant.
C. L Waller and B. A. Meginniss, both of Tallahassee, for appellees.
The appellee bank brought a bill of complaint against the state comptroller, seeking to have him and his agents and employees enjoined from requiring the banks under chapter 15787, Acts of 1931, Ex.Sess., to have documentary stamps representing state excise taxes, bought and put upon promissory notes for a mere notation on the notes of extensions, not renewals, of the notes, proper stamps having been placed upon the original notes.
Section 1, paragraph 1 of the act provides:
'That on and after the passage of this Act, there shall be levied, collected and paid for and in respect of the several documents, bonds, debentures or certificates of stock and indebtedness, and other documents, instruments, matters, writings, and things mentioned and described in Schedule A of this Act, or for or in respect of the vellum, parchment, or paper upon which such document, instrument, matter, writing, or thing, or any of them, are written or printed by any person, firm, association, or corporation who makes, signs, executes, issues, sells, removes, consigns, assigns, or ships the same, or for whose benefit or use the same are made, signed, executed, issued, sold, removed, consigned, assigned, or shipped in the State of Florida, the taxes specified in said Schedule A.'
Paragraph 4 of Schedule A, section 1 is:
'On promissory notes, non-negotiable notes, written obligations to pay money, assignment of salaries, wages, or other compensation, made, executed, delivered, sold, transferred, or assigned in the State of Florida, and for each renewal of the same on each $100.00 of the indebtedness or obligation evidenced thereby, 10¢. Mortgages which incorporate the certificate of indebtedness, not otherwise shown in separate instruments, are subject to the same tax at the same rate.
The statute does not mention 'extensions' of notes, but only the execution of and the renewal of notes. A renewal of a note involves a new contract by the maker or obligor. An extension of time for payment of a note requires assent on the part of the payee or holder of the note. See 54 C.J. 381; 25 C.J. 227; 8 C.J. 425.
The banks in effect claim that a renewal of a note as taxed by the statute does not include an extension of the note, and that the extension of a note by an unsigned notation on the original note, 'Interest paid to,' a given date, or 'Note extended to' a given date, is not a renewal of the note within the meaning of the statute.
The comptroller insists that by custom the words, 'renewal' and 'extension' are used interchangeably by banks, and such a notation on the original note is an extension based upon a valid consideration and is in effect a renewal of the original obligation.
'If there is a doubt as to the liability of an instrument to taxation, the construction is in favor of the exemption because * * * 'a tax...
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State ex rel. Victor Chemical Works v. Gay
...Fla. 648, 10 So.2d 314; Cunningham v. Stefanidi, 144 Fla. 214, 197 So. 722; Lovett v. Lee, 141 Fla. 395, 193 So. 538; Lee v. Quincy State Bank, 127 Fla. 765, 173 So. 909; City of Pensacola v. Lawrence, 126 Fal. 830, 171 So. 793; Metropolis Pub. Co. v. Lee, 126 Fla. 107, 170 So. 442; Lee v. ......
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Florida Indus. Com'n v. Growers Equipment Co.
... ... on which the materials in their raw or natural state were ... produced, and unless such processing, packing, packaging, ... transportation, or ... should be resolved in favor of the tax payer. See Lee v ... Quincy State Bank, 127 Fla. 765, 173 So. 909. Thus, two ... rules of construction are controlling as to ... ...
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...dissents. 1 Sconyer v. Scheper (Fla.App.2d 1960), 119 So.2d 408; Smith v. Musso (Fla.App.2d 1963), 151 So.2d 475.2 Lee v. Quincy State Bank (1937), 127 Fla. 765, 173 So. 909; Reese v. Schenck (1932), 107 Fla. 166, 144 So. ...