138 Mass. 414 | Mass. | 1885
The statutes provide that “ personal estate shall, for the purposes of taxation, include goods, chattels, money, and effects, wherever they are, ships and vessels at home or abroad, except as provided in section eight, money at interest, and other debts' due the persons to be taxed more than they are indebted or pay interest for.” Pub. Sts. c. 11, § 4.
If this provision stood alone, it might be a question of some difficulty whether money deposited in a bank, subject to be drawn at any time by check, should be treated as money on hand, liable to be taxed in full, or as a debt due the person to be taxed, liable to be taxed only after deducting the amount for which he is indebted.
Undoubtedly a bank is the debtor of the depositor to the amount of the deposit remaining in its possession; but the word “ money ” means money on hand, and it would not be a strained construction to hold that it was intended to include money at the immediate command of the tax-payer, and deposited in the usual way in a bank for safety and convenience. But the whole statute must be construed together, and we find in other parts of the same chapter decisive indications as to what the intention of the Legislature was. Subsequent sections make careful provisions as to the duties of assessors in assessing taxes and preparing the valuation list. Pub. Sts. a. 11, §§ 50 seq. They
We are therefore of opinion that this petition for a certiorari cannot be sustained. Exceptions overruled.