229 Mass. 120 | Mass. | 1918
The petitioners, who are the executors of the will of Joseph Faulkner, filed with the respondent a return of income for the period from January 1, 1916, to November 29, 1916, the date of the death of the testator, and also a further return for the period from November 30, 1916, to December 31, 1916. But each return was accompanied by a protest in writing that they were not required to make a return or to pay an income tax. The respondent nevertheless levied the assessments, the amount of which if the income is taxable is not in dispute, and, an application for abatement having been denied, the taxes were paid under protest, and the petitioners appealed as provided in St. 1916, c. 269, § 20.
The testator having been domiciled in this Commonwealth, the validity of the tax depends upon the construction to be given to St. 1916, c. 269, § 8, the material portion of which reads, “The income received by persons since deceased shall be taxed to their estates.” By § 1, a tax "upon incomes” is to be levied “in the year nineteen hundred and seventeen, and in each year thereafter.” The tax year therefore began to run from January 1, 1917, and the words “since deceased” refer only to the estates of those who died after the commencement of its operation. J. L. Hammett Co. v. Alfred Peats Co. 217 Mass. 520, 522, and authorities there collated. While § 2 provides, that “Income of the follow
So ordered.
