242 F. 1005 | S.D.N.Y. | 1917
In Swarts v. Hammer, 194 U. S. 441, 24 Sup. Ct. 695, 48 L. Ed. 1060, the Supreme Court held that there was nothing in the Bankruptcy Act exempting property in the hands of a trustee in bankruptcy from the state and municipal taxes to which similar property from the same locality is subject. Speaking of the property of the bankrupt, the court said:
“It is dedicated, it is true, to the payment of the creditors of the bankrupt, but there is nothing in that to withdraw it from' the necessity of protection by the state and municipality, or which should exempt it from its obligations to either.” .
“The state court may construe a statute and define its meaning, but whether its construction creates a tax within the meaning of a federal statute, giving a preference to taxes, is a federal question, of ultimate decision in this court.”
There can .be no doubt that the sum sought to be collected by the city of Trenton is a tax, and that it was based upon an assessment of property to the value found by the assessing officer. .
For the foregoing reasons, the special master’s report should be disaffirmed, and the amount of the tax allowed.