Williams v. Tawes

• Decision Date: 03 January 1941
• Docket Number: Nos. 70, 71.,s. 70, 71.
• Parties: WILLIAMS v. TAWES, Comptroller et al. TAWES, Comptroller v. WILLIAMS.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

17 A.2d 137

WILLIAMS
v.
TAWES, Comptroller et al.
TAWES, Comptroller
v.
WILLIAMS.

Nos. 70, 71.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Jan. 3, 1941.

Appeals from Circuit Court, Anne Arundel County; Ridgely P. Melvin, Judge.

Action for declaratory judgment by Clara S. Williams against J. Millard Tawes, Comptroller of the Treasury of the State of Maryland, and others. From the decree, plaintiff and defendant appeal.

Reversed and bill of complaint dismissed.

Argued before BOND, C. J, and PARKE, SLOAN, MITCHELL, JOHNSON, and DELAPLAINE, JJ.

T. Hughlett Henry, of Easton, and W. Thomas Kemp, Jr., of Baltimore (Piper, Watkins & Avirett, of Baltimore, on the brief), for Clara S. Williams.

William L. Henderson, Deputy Atty. Gen, and Norwood B. Orrick, Asst. Atty. Gen. (William C. Walsh, Atty. Gen, on the brief), for J. Millard Tawes and others.

JOHNSON, Judge.

Clara S. Williams, a resident of Talbot County, is a widow with two minor children. During the calendar year 1939 she received income (a) from the operation of a dairy, (b) from intangible property owned by her, and (c) from a trust created by the will of her late husband, of which a trust company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was trustee, and as to which she is a life beneficiary in a one-half interest thereof. In determining the income tax payable by her for the year mentioned under the provisions of Chapter 277 of the Acts of 1939 (Code, Art. 81, §§ 240-253), she contended (1) that Section 244(a) thereof did not apply to her income from the foreign fiduciary trustee; (2) that said section as applied thereto was unconstitutional and void, and (3) that even though such income were taxable under the Act, it should be treated

17 A.2d 138

as "ordinary" income, as to which she was not taxable at more than 2 1/2%.

Accordingly, under the provisions of Chapter 294 of the Acts of 1939, Code, Art. 31 A, known as the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, she filed her bill of complaint in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, seeking to have her tax status determined and declared and to have Section 244(a) declared unconstitutional as to her foreign fiduciary income. She further sought a declaration, were such income declared to be taxable, to have it treated as "ordinary" income and to enjoin the Comptroller of the State of Maryland, the Attorney General of the State, the State Treasurer, and the County Commissioners of Talbot County, named as defendants in the bill, from levying and collecting a tax thereon...