137 Ky. 837 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1910
Opinion of the Court by
—Affirming.
The appellee, Standard Oil Company, is a Kentucky.corporation which was organized in 1886 under the general incorporation act in force in this state at that time. This litigation originated in an attempt on the part of the city of Covington to tax the intangible property of the corporation under the theory that Covington is its principal place of business or. domicile, and that its intangible property is properly assessable in that municipality. The question arising on this appeal is whether the intangible property
The record shows that the Standard Oil Company was incorporated in 1886, and that in its articles of incorporation, and the notice thereof required by the statute then in force to be published in a newspaper, the city of Louisville was designated as its principal place of business; that the corporation had been doing business in this state under these articles of. incorporation from 1886 until the present time; and that no change has ever been made by appellant designating a place other than Louisville as its principal place of business. It is true the corporation does business and has offices in various other places within the state of Kentucky, among which is Covington; but that city has never been officially designated as its principal place of business. It is, however, shown, that in one year the corporation, by mistake of .its officers, returned its intangible property for taxation in Covington; but this mistake was corrected and has never occurred again. The record shows that, for the year involved in this litigation, the appellee corporation made return of its intangible property to the proper fiscal officers of the city of Louisville, and that it' has paid the taxes due thereon to the city of Louisville. There is nothing in the record which tends to show that appellee is in any way seeking to avoid taxation, but is only seeking to. avoid being taxed twice on its intangible property.
, The question- we. have here arose in the case of Langdon-Creasy Co. v. Trustees, 116 Ky. 562, 76 S. W. 881, 25 Ky. Law Rep. 823. The Langdon-Creasy Company Owned and operated various merchandise
Under section 4025, Ky. St. (Russell’s St. section 5917), tangible personal property, which has a situs in a county, municipality, or taxing district, is assessable there, although it may not be the domicile of the owner. But this statute does not affect the question wherein is involved only tangible property.
The opinion in the case of Standard Oil Co. v. Commonwealth, 110 Ky. 821, 62 S. W. 897, 23 Ky. Law Rep. 302, does not militate against the views we have herein expressed. It is true it was there said that a corporation might have one or more principal places of business in the state; but the court had a different statute under consideration there from the one under discussion here. In the case
The judgment of the trial court, holding that the principal place of business of appellee is in Louisville, and that its intangible property is assessable there, and there only, is affirmed.