State ex rel. Kempsmith v. Widule
| Decision Date | 26 October 1915 |
| Parties | STATE EX REL. KEMPSMITH v. WIDULE, COUNTY CLERK. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee County. Orren T. Williams, Circuit Judge. Affirmed.
Certiorari action to test the validity of the assessment of an income tax, under the laws of this state, on an annuity bequeathed to Abbie W. Kempsmith by her husband, Frank Kempsmith.
Mr. Kempsmith, by will, left a considerable estate in trust, in part, to pay out of the net income thereof $3,600 per year to his wife, Abbie, so long as she should live. In due course, the bequest was valued under the inheritance tax law of the state, the prescribed inheritance tax was assessed thereon, and was paid by or on account of the beneficiary. When she made her income tax statement for the year she received the first annuity payment of $3,600, she claimed that such sum was not assessable. Such claim was overruled by the taxing officers and she carried the matter, by certiorari, to the circuit court for Milwaukee County, where, in due course, it was heard, resulting in a decision that the value, in præsenti, of the probable future payments having been determined and the statutory inheritance tax paid thereon, the yearly payments were not taxable under income tax law. Judgment was accordingly rendered reversing the determination to the contrary.Walter C. Owen, Atty. Gen., E. E. Brossard, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Winfred C. Zabel, Dist. Atty., W. L. Tibbs and Daniel W. Sullivan, Asst. Dist. Attys., Daniel W. Hoan, City Atty., and Max Schoetz, Jr., Asst. City Atty., all of Milwaukee, for appellant.
Aarons & Niven, of Milwaukee, for respondent.
As above indicated, this appeal involves only this question: If a testator wills property in trust to be invested and a specified sum per year paid out of the net income to a designated beneficiary for life, and such beneficiary's interest in the estate is appraised and the statutory inheritance tax is paid thereon, do the yearly payments made thereafter to the annuitant, constitute income under the income tax laws of this state? We must look to the written law for the answer.
We will rest the case on the letter of the statute, and the logic thereof as heretofore declared by this court that the inheritance tax is a burden placed upon the right to receive by will or inheritance. Nunnemacher v. State, 129 Wis. 190, 108 N. W. 627, 9 L. R. A. (N. S.) 121, 9 Ann. Cas. 711;Estate of Bullen, 143 Wis. 512, 128 N. W. 109, 139 Am. St. Rep. 1114. Keeping that in mind and avoiding confusion which might be created by indulging in technical distinctions between names of beneficiary interests, the purpose of our legislature is plain. The right to receive being the subject of inheritance taxation, the amount is regulated, primarily, by...
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State ex rel. Froedtert Grain & Malting Co. v. Tax Comm'n of Wis.
...121, 9 Ann.Cas. 711;Beals v. State, 139 Wis. 544, 121 N.W. 347;State v. Bullen, 143 Wis. 512, 128 N.W. 109;State ex rel. Kempsmith v. Widule, 161 Wis. 389, 154 N.W. 695;In re Estate of Stephenson, 171 Wis. 452, 177 N.W. 579. It is true that some courts and text-writers have made the broad s......
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Allen v. First Nat. Bank of Madison (In re Allen's Estate)
...life, or future limited, estate has not been decided by this court in a contest on that question. Appellants cite State ex rel. Kempsmith v. Widule, 161 Wis. 389, 154 N.W. 695, in which the facts show with respect to an annuity, that “In due course, the bequest was valued under the inherita......
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State ex rel. Hickox v. Widule
...is immaterial. The income of a trust fund received by an executor is liable to an income tax under section 1087m10. State, etc., v. Widule, etc., 161 Wis. 393, 154 N. W. 696,Field v. City of Milwaukee, 161 Wis. 393, 154 N. W. 698, and State ex rel. Kempsmith v. Widule, 161 Wis. 389, 154 N. ......
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State v. Merrill (In re Merrill's Will)
...be present or future. The tax is imposed upon the right to receive and is fixed by the value of that right. State ex rel. Kempsmith v. Widule, 161 Wis. 389, 154 N. W. 695. The state is entitled to an inheritance tax measured by the market value of the interest transferred and the value for ......