150 Ga. 27 | Ga. | 1920
(After stating the foregoing facts.) Section 16 of the charter of the City of Blakely confers upon the city the power to "put an ad valorem tax, not exceeding the constitutional rate, on all property in said city.” The charter further provides that “the taxing power of said city shall be as general, full and complete as that of the State itself.” Acts 1900, pp. 219, 224. No statute in this State, and no provision in the charter of the City of Blakely, in terms or by necessary construction, fixes the situs for taxation of the personal estate of a deceased person while in course of administration. Generally the rule is prescribed by statute. Sometimes it is taxable to the heir or legatee at his domicile; sometimes, to the estate as such, or to the personal representative, at its actual situs, if the deceased was a non-resident; sometimes, to the personal representative in his capacity as such at his domicile; and sometimes, to the personal representative at the place of his appointment (usually where the deceased resided), or at the place of the last domicile of the deceased, if a resident. See 1 Cooley on Taxation (3d ed.), 664; Gray’s Limitations of Taxing Power, § 109; 1 Desty on Taxation, § 68; Burroughs on Law of Taxation, § 98; 37 Cyc. 958; notes in L. B. A. 1915C, 903, 949. In the absence of statutory rule in this State, or of any decision by this court on the question, re
The rule that such property is taxable to the heir or legatee at his domicile is impracticable. Until settlement of the estate, it can not be certainly known what personalty, if any at all, the heir or legatee will receive. The case'of Central of Georgia Railway Company v. Wright, 124 Ga. 630 (53 S. E. 207), in which it was ruled that the “substantial, beneficial ownership of the stock [stock in an Alabama corporation owned by the plaintiff in error in that case and pledged to a New York trust company for the purpose of securing an issue of bonds and in the actual possession of the trust company in the city of New York] being in the Central of Georgia Bailway Company, that company is liable to be taxed thereon in Georgia,” does not require the adoption of the rule. We also eliminate the rule that such property should be taxed at its actual situs, for the reason that the deceased in the present ease was a resident of the State. That the legislature, subject to constitutional limitations, has full power to assess taxes against persons domiciled, or property situated, within the State, is not doubted. Upon tne just principle that protection and taxation are correlative, the State has ample power to tax the estates of non-residents, living or dead, actually located within the State; but that question is not here involved. The petition in this case alleges that the .personalty of E. Hilton — choses in action and certain farm products — was not engaged in any business enterprise within the city. Hence we do not deal with the power of the State to tax personal property which has acquired a business situs in a State or district other than the State or district of the owner’s residence. See able review of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States upon this question, in 15 Columbia Law Beview, 377.
A just and proper rule in cases of this character, as we think, is found in Cornwall v. Todd (1871), 38 Conn. 443, where it was ruled: “The personal property of a deceased person, during the settlement of the estate, is taxable in the place of domicile of the deceased. When it comes into the possession of the heir or legatee, it must be taxed in the place where the heir or legatee resides. When it goes into the hands of a trustee, under the will or otherwise, it must be taxed where the trustee or cestui que.
So long as Mr. Hilton continued to live, it is not pretended that his personal estate was subject to taxation by the city. If the three executors of his will lived in the county, beyond the corporate limits of the city, it is not pretended that any part of
We have not overlooked the general statutory rule for the return of personal property, as provided in the Civil Code, § 1075. The situs of personal property for the purposes of taxation, with certain exceptions not material here, is, under our law, at the domicile of the owner, if a resident of this State. ’ See City Council of Augusta v. Dunbar, 50 Ga. 387, 392, 393; Wright v. Southwestern Railroad Co., 64 Ga. 783, 799; Greene County v. Wright, 126 Ga. 504 (54 S. E. 951); High Shoals Mfg. Co. v. Penick, 127 Ga. 504 (56 S. E. 648); Wright v. Brunswick, 140 Ga. 231 (78 S. E. 839, Ann. Cas. 1914D, 287); Joiner v. Pennington, 143 Ga. 438 (85 S. E. 318); Fulton County v. Wright, 146 Ga. 447 (91 S. E. 487). We are also mindful that upon the death of the owner intestate, title to all his personal property vests in his administrator for the benefit of his heirs and creditors (Civil Code, § 3929); that, until the required assent by the executor, the legal title to the devised realty and bequeathed personalty of the testator is in the executor (Civil Code, § 3895); and that an executor is a trustee, having title to the devised realty as well as to the bequeathed personalty for the purposes of using the same to pay debts and legacies. Blake v. Black, 84 Ga. 392, 399 (11 S. E. 494). But, as we have already seen, the personal representative holds the title for a limited purpose, and the executor is a trustee ,in a limited sense. We have also given due weight to the case of Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County v. Augusta, 90 Ga. 634 (17 S. E. 61, 20 L. R. A. 151), relied upon by the plaintiff in error to sustain its contention that at least one third of the personalty assessed for taxes is subject to taxation by the munici
What we have said above may apply particularly to the taxable situs of the notes and the money on deposit — choses in action. With respect to the cotton a somewhat different question is presented by the demurrer. In 19J2 an amendment to article seven, section
Judgment affirmed.