Nw. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. State
| Decision Date | 13 June 1916 |
| Citation | 158 N.W. 328,163 Wis. 484 |
| Parties | NORTHWESTERN MUT. LIFE INS. CO. v. STATE. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
On demurrer to amended complaint. Sustained, and action dismissed.
For former opinion, see 155 N. W. 609.Olin, Butler, Stebbins & Stroud, of Madison, for plaintiff.
W. C. Owen, Atty. Gen., and Walter Drew, Deputy Atty. Gen., for the State.
Pursuant to leave of court an amended complaint has been filed in this action to which the state has demurred and argument has been had thereon.
While many new allegations have been added to the complaint we do not regard the situation as essentially changed. The new allegations, for the most part, merely add details to facts alleged in general terms in the original complaint or assumed to exist by the former decision. We deem it necessary to refer to but two points, which are urged by the plaintiff.
The great disparity between the taxation of foreign and domestic level premium companies is very strongly urged and said to be so great as to be manifestly unconscionable and arbitrary. In this connection it is argued that if a personal property tax had been levied on the plaintiff's reserve, consisting of securities and credits, there would have been deducted from the amount thereof, under the existing policy of the state with regard to the taxation of such property, its liabilities to policy holders; i. e. the present value of its outstanding policies valued as required by law, which is about 90 per cent. of the reserve. It is also argued that if the plaintiff had been subjected to income taxation under the state law it would have paid much less than under the 3 per cent. license for requirement.
We do not regard either contention as well founded. Our statutes governing the taxation of securities and credits for many years provided that there should be exempted from taxation so much thereof as “shall equal the amount of bona fide and unconditional debts by him owing.” This provision was repealed by the income tax law, which marked the abandonment of the attempt to levy personal property taxes upon that species of property. Session Laws 1911, chapter 658.
It seems entirely clear that the liability to policy holders which the plaintiff refers to is not in any sense an “unconditional debt,” and as the policy of the state has never extended the exemption to any liability short of an unconditional debt, we are unable to see any sound basis for the argument made.
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