Illinois National Bank v. Kinsella

66 N.E. 338, 201 Ill. 31
Illinois Supreme Court·Decided February 18, 1903·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hand

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a bill in chancery filed in the Sangamon county circuit court by the appellant, against appellee, county treasurer and ex officio collector of said county, to enjoin the collection-of a portion of the taxes levied upon the shares of stock of the appellant in the hands of its share-1 holders. A general demurrer was filed to the bill and sustained, and the appellant having elected to stand by its bill, a decree was entered dismissing the bill for want of equity, and an appeal has been prosecuted to this court.

The averments of the bill, in substance, are, that on April 1, 1901, the appellant was a national bank organized under the statute of the United States, with its banking house located at Springfield, in said county, with a capital of §300,000, divided into three thousand shares of the par value of §100 each, the full fair cash value of which was §118 per share, and which were assessed by the local assessor at that value as their full fair cash value, and at a sum aggregating the sum of §354,000; that the appellant at the-same time owned a building and real estate in which it conducted its banking business, which was assessed at §100,000 as its full fair cash value; that in making the assessments of said shares of stock the assessor should have deducted from the full fair cash value thereof the assessed value of said real estate, and assessed the said shares of stock at an amount aggregating §254,000 instead of §354,000; that the appellant had paid the taxes assessed against said real estate and the taxes assessed against said shares of stock based upon a valuation aggregating §254,000, and that the taxes levied upon the assessed valuation of said shares of stock over and above the full fair cash value thereof, after deducting the assessed value of said real estate, was illegal and void, and prayed that the collection thereof should be enjoined.

The parties filed the following stipulation, which was before the court at the time the demurrer was disposed of: “It is stipulated by the parties to the above entitled cause that the real estate of said bank occupied by it as its banking house has been assessed and the taxes extended and paid thereon; that the shares of stock of said bank have been assessed ag'ainst the shareholders according to their full fair cash value, without deduction on account of the assessment of the real estate. It is further stipulated that but one question is involved in this case, and if the court shall find that under existing laws the said real estate of the bank may be taxed against the bank and the shares of stock may also be assessed and taxed against the shareholders according to its and their full fair cash value, without deduction on account of the said real estate assessment, the injunction shall be denied. If fhe court shall find that it is not lawful to assess the shares of stock against the shareholders according to their full fair cash value, without deduction of the value of the said real estate assessed against the bank, then the injunction shall be granted.”

In view of the facts averred in the bill, and the above stipulation, but one question is presented for decision in this case, viz.: In the assessment of the shares of stock of a national bank against the shareholders, should the assessed value of the real estate owned by the bank be deducted from the aggregate assessed value of the shares and the shareholder assessed only upon the amount remaining after such deduction, or should the shares of stock be assessed at their full fair cash value to. the shareholder and the real estate be assessed to the bank at its full fair cash value?

The first act providing for the organization of national banks passed by Congress (February 25,1868,) contained no grant of power permitting the States to impose taxes upon national banks in any form, and it was held without such grant the power did not exist. This policy was soon found to be unwise, and in the following year power was given the States, not to tax the bank, its franchises or property, but to tax the shares of stock in the hands of the shareholder. The statute was subsequently amended from time to time, and was finally embodied as it exists to-day in section 5219 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, which reads as follows: “Nothing herein shall prevent all the shares in any association from being included in the valuation of the personal property of .the owner or holder of such shares in assessing taxes imposed by authority of the State within which the association is located; but the legislature of each State may determine and direct the manner and place of taxing all the shares of national banking" associations located within the State, subject only to the two restrictions that the taxation shall not be at a greater rate than is assessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individual citizens 'of such State, and that the .shares of any national banking association owned by non-residents of any State shall be taxed in the city or town where the bank is located, and not elsewhere. Nothing herein shall be construed to exempt the real property of associations from either State, county or municipal taxes, to the same extent, according to its value, as other real property is taxed.” And in Owensboro Nat. Bank v. City of Owensboro, 173 U. S. 664, it was said: “This section * * is the measure of the power of a State to tax national banks, their property or their franchises. By its unambiguous provisions the power is confined to a taxation of the shares of stock in the names of the shareholders and to an assessment of the real estate of the bank. Any State tax, therefore, which is in excess of and not in conformity to these requirements is void.”

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Illinois National Bank v. Kinsella, 66 N.E. 338, 201 Ill. 31 (Ill. 1903).

66 N.E. 338 (Illinois National Bank v. Kinsella) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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