Wright v. Reynolds Fasteners, Inc.

• Decision Date: 22 March 1966
• Docket Number: No. 65--674,65--674
• Citation: 184 So.2d 699
• Parties: E. W. WRIGHT, as Tax Collector of Dade County, Florida, Sam L. Elcook, as Tax Assessor of Dade County, Florida, and Ray E. Green, as Comptroller of the State of Florida, Appellants, v. REYNOLDS FASTENERS, INC., a New York corporation, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 699

184 So.2d 699

E. W. WRIGHT, as Tax Collector of Dade County, Florida, Sam L. Elcook, as Tax Assessor of Dade County, Florida, and Ray E. Green, as Comptroller of the State of Florida, Appellants, v. REYNOLDS FASTENERS, INC., a New York corporation, Appellee.

No. 65--674.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 22, 1966.

Rehearing Denied April 20, 1966.

Thomas C. Britton, County Atty., and Stuart Simon, Asst. County Atty., for appellants.

Kenneth N. ReKant and George Gilbert, Miami Beach, for appellee.

Before HENDRY, C.J., BARKDULL, J., and GOODING, MARION W., Associate Judge.

BARKDULL, Judge.

By this appeal, the appellants seek review of a summary final decree upholding the right of the plaintiff in the trial court to secure the return of certain tangible personal property txes, paid under protest to the appellant tax collector.

All parties agree that the property involved in this cause was immune from taxation as being imports in their original containers, pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Constitution. See: Brown v. State of Maryland, 12 Wheat. 419, 6 L.Ed. 678; Hamilton Mfg. Co. v. Massachusetts, 6 Wall. 632, 639, 18 L.Ed. 904; Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, 324 U.S. 652, 65 S.Ct. 870, 89 L.Ed. 1252; Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Bowers, 358 U.S. 534, 79 S.Ct. 383, 3 L.Ed.2d 490; Art. I, § 10, Cl. 2, United States Constitution. It is conceded that at no time did the plaintiff file the necessary exemption forms, pursuant to § 200.15, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. However, the appellee urges that this was not necessary as the property was immune from taxation, and we agree in accordance with the opinion of the Second District Court of Appeal in Hansen v. Port Everglades Steel Corporation, Fla.App.1963, 155 So.2d 387. The appellants contend that the claim of the plaintiff is barred by failure to comply with § 95.08, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. ¹ The appellee urges that the case of the second district, L. O. Hansen v. Port Everglades Steel Corporation, supra, requires an affirmance, but we find it not to be controlling on this point, as § 95.08, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., does not appear to have been considered by that court.

In view of the nature of public revenues and for stability in budget planning, there should be some cut-off date when claims for taxes paid under protest may be returned. This would be in accordance with prior rulings of appellate courts in this State, wherein they have denied recovery for return of taxes when there has been no compliance with the provisions of a non-claim statute. See: Whitehurst v. Hernando County, 91 Fla. 509, 107 So. 627; Kahl v. Board of County Commissioners of Dade County, Fla.App.1964, 162 So.2d 522; State ex rel. Victor Chemical Works v. Gay, Fla.1954, 74 So.2d 560. In the latter case, the Supreme Court of Florida said the following:

'(1) F.S. Section 216.26, F.S.A., is not strictly speaking, a statute of limitations but is more in the nature of a statute of non-claim. The application for refund is required to be made within one year after the right to such refund shall have accrued...