78 Md. 363 | Md. | 1894
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case was tried in the Baltimore City Court on an •agreed statement of facts. The agreement shows that Charles J. Baker, William Baker, Jr., and Charles E. Baker, compose the firm of Baker Bros, and Company; that Charles E. Baker is a resident of Baltimore City, and the other two members of the firm are residents of Baltimore County; that Charles J. Baker has a fourteuths interest, and the other two have each a three-tenths interest, in the firm. It is admitted that the place of business of the firm is on Charles street, in Baltimore City, at which place is kept the stock of the partnership, of an average value of $80,000.00; that the' firm has been assessed by the Appeal Tax Court of Baltimore City for $80,000.00 on their stock, and $750.00 on their horses used in their business, and taxed $1,393.95 for State and City taxes for 1892.
The Court below decided that the plaintiff was only entitled to recover the amount of taxes due for the horses and for the interest of Charles E. Baker in the whole stock of the partnership. A judgment was entered accordingly for $432.38 with interest and costs, and the plaintiff appealed to this Court.
The appellees rely upon section 51 of Article 3 of the-Constitution of Maryland, which provides that: “The personal property of residents of this State shall be subject to taxation in the county, or city, where the resident bona fide resides for the greater part of the year for which the tax may or shall be levied, and not elsewhere, except goods and chattels permanently located, which shall be-taxed in the city or county where they are so located.” The principal question to be determined is the meaning-of the term “permanently located,” as used in that section of the Constitution, it being contended by the appellees that the goods and chattels composing their stock in trade are not “permanently located” in the City of Baltimore.
Article 15 of the Declaration of Rights asserts that “every person in the State, or person holding property therein, ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes for the support of the government, according to his actual worth in real or personal property.”
Taking this in connection with the provision of the Constitution above quoted, it is clear that it was contemplated by the framers of the Constitution that per
As the situs of personal property is ordinarily the place of residence of the owner, the Constitution provides that personal property should be taxed where the owner bona fide resides for the greater part of the year; but, as that provision alone might work great hardship on the county or city where goods and chattels of the owner are permanently located, the exception was made. Goods and chattels permanently located at the residence of the owner are to be taxed there, so what might be called his “floating” goods and chattels’ are taxed at the place of his residence, because they have no actual situs of their own, and hence that of their owner is adopted, but such goods and chattels as compose the stock in trade of the appellees are not carried backwards and forwards between Baltimore County, or some other county and the City of Baltimore. As .long as they are the property of the appellees they are located in Baltimore City, and they are as “permanently located’' there as such goods and chattels can be any where. They are not manufactured or purchased to be kept as long as they remain in existence. The separate articles constituting the stock may continue the property of the appellees for a day, a week, a month, a year, or longer, but until they are sold they remain permanently in Baltimore, and are not moved from place to place. That is clearly what is meant by “permanently located” — not that the goods and chattels must remain until they are
He expects to sell as soon as he can receive his price, and as he sells he replenishes his stock. The articles are changing from day to day, but the stock, which represents the aggregate of the goods and chattels, remains about, the same. Yet can it be claimed that a merchant who resides and carries on his business in Baltimore is not to be taxed for his stock in trade ? A reasonable construction must be given the constitutional provision, and we must bear in mind the object in taxing goods and chattels permanently located in the city or county where they are so located.
If the position of the appellees is correct, it is possible to have hundreds of thousands of dollars, probably millions, of tangible personal property, goods and chattels, within the City of Baltimore, having the benefit of
We recognize fully the force of the argument of counsel for the appellees that property cannot be taxed simply because it may seem inequitable to permit it to escape taxation. But when we are called upon to construe statutes or the Constitution on this subject, it is our duty, in seeking the true interpretation of language used, to place a reasonable construction upon it, and to bear in mind the fact that our Constitution aimed to require all persons to bear their just share of the burden of taxation.
This case differs wholly from those of Hooper vs. Mayor, &c., of Baltimore, 12 Md., 464, and Phila., Wilm. and Balto. Railroad Co. vs. Appeal Tax Court of Baltimore City, 50 Md., 397, cited by the appellees. Hooper was a resident of Baltimore County, and this Court decided that his ship was not permanently located “within the State,” and hence it could not be taxed by Baltimore City. The statute then in force required, property owned by residents of this State, and not permanently located elsewhere within the State, to be assessed to the owner in the county or city where he resided. The ship was registered in the custom house at Balti
We do not deem it necessary to determine whether this stock could he taxed in Baltimore City by reason of the fact that it is owned by a firm transacting its business there. We are of the opinion, however, that it is perfectly proper to assess the property to the firm,
There are many reasons why this should be so. The interest of the partners may vary from time to time, and should it be necessary at any time to sell the property for taxes, it might be very inconvenient, and cause serious delay in the collection of taxes, if the interests of partners must be determined as they would likely have to be before any one would purchase.
As partnership assets are liable for partnership debts before they are for the debts of the individual members of the firm, it would be proper to levy the taxes against the firm. Assessing the firm instead of the individual members, will save much inconvenience to the authorities, and do no injustice to anyone.
It follows from what we have said that the judgment below must be reversed.
Judgment reversed,, and neio tried awarded.