176 N.E. 273 | Ill. | 1931
Richard W. Sears, a resident of Lake county, Illinois, died in September, 1914, leaving a large estate. His personal property was appraised, for the purpose of ascertaining the inheritance tax, at nearly $13,000,000. By his will, which was duly admitted to record, he gave all his property to his widow, Anna L. Sears, and also nominated her as executrix. The subject matter of the litigation which has resulted in this appeal is a claim of the State for taxes on the personal property of Sears alleged to have been omitted from assessment, in his lifetime, for the years 1907 to 1912, inclusive. The appeal is by Mrs. Sears, individually and as executrix, from a decree of the circuit court of Lake county rendered upon a bill in chancery in the name of the People. By this decree the property received under the will was charged with a lien for the payment of taxes found to be due on Sears' property omitted from assessment during the years stated.
Sears was a resident of the village of Oak Park, in Cook county, on the first day of April in each of the years for which taxes are claimed in this proceeding except 1912. He removed from Oak Park to Lake county in 1912. An assessment of personal property was made against him by the assessor of the town of Oak Park in each of those years, *191 except 1912, upon which taxes were extended, and he paid in his lifetime the taxes so extended. From 1912 until his death he was a resident of Lake county, and this proceeding does not concern any taxes during that time or in that county. The bill was filed originally in the circuit court of Cook county but the venue was changed to Lake county, and Mrs. Sears answered, both individually and as executrix. The appellant resists the collection of the taxes on the ground that at the time Sears died no liability existed for the payment of taxes of any decedent which had been omitted from assessment during his lifetime. If this contention is correct it will not be necessary for us to consider any of the other points raised.
The liability of the owner of property for the payment of taxes is purely statutory. The law is well settled that the legislative power of a State to provide for the levy and collection of taxes is unlimited, except as restricted by the State and Federal constitutions. (Chambers v. People,
"Sec. 276. If any real or personal property shall be omitted in the assessment of any year or number of years, or the tax thereon, for which such property was liable, from any cause has not been paid, or if any such property, by reason of defective description or assessment thereof, shall fail to pay taxes for any year or years, in either case the same, when discovered, shall be listed and assessed by the assessor and placed on the assessment and tax books. The *192 arrearages of tax which might have been assessed, with ten per cent interest thereon, from the time the same ought to have been paid, shall be charged against such property by the county clerk. It shall be the duty of county clerks to add uncollected personal property tax to the tax of any subsequent year, whenever they may find the person owing such uncollected tax assessed for any subsequent year.
"Sec. 277. If the tax or assessment on property liable to taxation is prevented from being collected for any year or years, by reason of any erroneous proceeding or other cause, the amount of such tax or assessment which such property should have paid may be added to the tax on such property for any subsequent year, in separate columns designating the year or years.
"Sec. 278. No such charge for tax and interest for previous years, as provided for in the preceding section, shall be made against any property prior to the date of ownership of the person owning such property at the time the liability for such omitted tax was first ascertained: Provided, that the owner of property, if known, assessed under this and the preceding section, shall be notified by the assessor or clerk, as the case may require."
The statute thus provided for the assessment of omitted property. During Sears' lifetime none of the omitted property was assessed, therefore no liability existed against Sears in his lifetime for any omitted taxes. He had paid all the taxes assessed against him. None of the property involved in this suit which he owned at the time of his death had ever been assessed. Section 276 provided for the assessment of omitted property when discovered, and required the county clerk to add uncollected personal property taxes to the taxes of any subsequent year whenever he should find the person owing such uncollected tax assessed for any subsequent year. Its provisions clearly apply only to the omitted property of a living person, as it would obviously be impossible for the county clerk to find and tax a person who *193
was dead. Section 277 makes no reference to an omitted tax but refers merely to uncollected taxes. This court inPeople v. National Box Co.
The liability for such omitted tax was not ascertained during the lifetime of Sears, who died in September, 1914. The assessments for omitted taxes are for the years 1907 to 1912, both inclusive. The petition for assessment of omitted personal property of decedent was not presented to the board of review of Cook county until September, 1915, and the assessments now in question were not made by the board until September, 1916. At the death of Sears, in 1914, there was a change of ownership. His will gave all his property to his widow at the instant of his death, subject only to the payment of his debts. There was no tax debt at that time, because during his lifetime there had been no assessment for omitted taxes. After his death and the change of ownership to his widow any charge against the property for taxes and interest for previous years was expressly prohibited by section 278. If there is any doubt whether the sections in question authorized a charge for taxes against the legatee on account of property omitted from assessment by a deceased owner and devised by him, the language of the statute cannot be extended beyond its clear import to make the property subject to the taxation. Such statutes imposing a tax, in case of doubt, are construed most strongly against the government and in favor of the *194
citizen. (Fidelity and Casualty Co. v. Board of Review,
Even if the language of section 276 were construed to authorize an assessment of omitted taxes of a decedent the provisions of section 278 would nullify the authorization. The language used in section 278 compels the conclusion that it refers to section 276. Section 278 provides, "No such charge for tax and interest * * * as provided in the preceding section." The only previous reference to "interest," or the duty of the clerk to "charge" it against property, is in section 276. Section 278 also refers to the "person owning such property at the time the liability for such omitted tax was first ascertained." The use of the phrase "such omitted tax" shows that section 278 referred to and qualified section 276, as that section deals with omitted taxes while section 277 does not mention omitted taxes but refers only to uncollected taxes. In People v. National Box Co. supra, this court had occasion to consider the relation of section 278 to sections 276 and 277. No question *195 of the assessment of omitted taxes against the estate of a deceased person was involved in that case, which had to do with corporate franchise taxes, but it was there held that notwithstanding the reference in section 278 to "the preceding section," its provisions extended not only to section 277 but also to section 276. It was there also held that the use of the word "preceding" referred not only to section 277 but also to section 276. Moreover, the ordinary definition and use of the word "preceding" does not limit its application exclusively to the section immediately preceding it, as the words "next preceding" or "immediately preceding" are generally used when such restricted application is intended. A consideration of these three sections therefore fails to reveal any authority for an assessment of omitted taxes against a decedent's estate. Neither one of them contains any reference to the property of a deceased person. No directions are contained in either section for the assessment and collection of omitted taxes, in case of a deceased person, as to whether the executor, administrator, trustee, creditors, heirs, legatees or devisees shall be proceeded against, and no method of procedure in such cases is provided.
We have had sections 276, 277 and 278 before us in several cases but in no case has it been adjudicated that under them an assessment of personal property omitted from the assessment of any year in the owner's lifetime could be made after his death. In the appellee's brief four cases are cited to sustain the statement that in numerous cases the right to make assessments of omitted property of deceased persons before 1915 had been recognized. These cases are Gannaway v. Barricklow,
What has been said thus far concerns only sections 276, 277 and 278 as they were originally enacted as a part of the general Revenue act of 1872. They continued in force without change, except by a minor amendment to section 277 not necessary to be now considered, until the Revenue act of 1898 was passed, section 35 of which provided that "the board of review shall: First, assess all property subject to assessment which shall not have been assessed by the assessors." The effect of this provision was to modify section 276 so as to take from the local assessors the power and duty of assessing property which had been omitted in the assessment of any previous year or years and imposed that duty on the boards of review of the various counties. (People v. Sellars,
This amendment has no application to this case unless it is given effect retroactively to create a cause of action which had no existence at the time of Sears' death. While the appellee contends that under sections 276, 277 and 278 and original section 35 an assessment could be made against the estate and Mrs. Sears, we hold that those sections do not authorize such an assessment. When a statute is amended "so as to read as follows," as in the case of this amendment, the amendment has no retroactive force. The part of the original act which remains unchanged is considered as having continued in force as the law from the time of its original enactment and the new portion as having become the law only at the time of the amendment. (Potter's Dwarris on Stat. Const. 165; City ofAnderson v. O'Donnell,
Since the statute at the time of the death of the decedent made no provision for the assessment after his death of personal property which he had owned but which had been omitted from assessment in his lifetime in various years, as claimed by the bill, the decree of the circuit court is without foundation in the law for its support. As a result of this conclusion it is not necessary for us to consider any of the other questions raised by counsel.
For the reasons given the decree is reversed.
Decree reversed.