Id. s. 152. Returns to comptroller. Appeal. Correction of assessment and valuation. 143. As soon as the State tax commissioner shall have valued and assessed the shares in the several banks and other corporations in this State, he shall certify and return the said valuation to the comptroller of the treasury, who shall at once proceed to notify the president, cashier, or other proper officer of such banks or other corporations of the said valuation and assessment of their shares respectively, by transmitting to such president or other officer, an account of the State taxes due from such bank or other corporation under such valuation and assessment, by mail, under cover, fairly directed to such president or other officer, and shall note in a book the date of placing in the mail the envelope or cover containing such account. If no appeal be taken within thirty days from such transmission, the said valuation and assessment shall be final, but any such bank or corporation may within thirty days after such notification, appeal from such valuation to the comptroller of the treasury and State treasurer, stating in such appeal the reasons and grounds of such appeal, and said comptroller and treasurer shall consider the same, and if the comptroller and treasurer shall both be of the opinion that such valuation and assessment so made by the State tax commissioner is erroneous, and ought to be changed, they shall change the same accordingly, and the valuation and assessment so agreed upon by the comptroller and treasurer shall be final, but if either the comptroller or treasurer shall agree with the State tax commissioner as to the correctness of the valuation so made by him, then such appeal shall be dismissed, and the original valuation shall be and remain as the true valuation of such shares, and all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the provisions of these sections are hereby repealed. 1874, c. 408, s. 150. State tax on railroads. GROSS RECEIPTS OF RAILROADS. 144. A State tax of one-half of one per centum is hereby levied gross receipts of annually, upon the gross receipts of all railroad companies worked by steam, incorporated by or under the authority of this State, and doing business therein; and the said tax shall be due and payable at the treasury, on or before the first day of March, in each and every year; provided that the gross receipts of the Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad shall not be so taxed, so long as said road is required to pay one fifth of its receipts from passengers on said branch road. What excepted. 45 Md. 361. 44 Md. 131. Id. s. 151. report to comp ceipts and earnings. 145. It shall be the duty of the president, treasurer or other When officer to financial officer of every such railroad company, on or before the troller gross re- first day of February in each and every year, to report in writing under oath to the comptroller of the treasury, the total gross receipts and earnings of the company of which he is such president, treasurer or officer, from all sources, for the year ending on the preceding thirty-first day of December; and said report shall be made out in detail, as stated on the books of said company; and it shall be the When company duty of the said company, on or before the first day of March next succeeding the day on which the said report is hereby required to be made, to pay to the treasurer of this State the amount of the to pay State tax. State tax so levied on the said gross receipts of the said company as aforesaid. 146. If any such president, treasurer or other financial officer Id, s. 152. Penalty for shall fail or neglect to perform the duties required of him by the neglect. preceding sections, for the space of thirty days after it shall be his duty so to do, said president, treasurer or financial officer so failing or neglecting, shall forfeit and pay to the State of Maryland the sum of five hundred dollars, to be recovered by action of debt in the name of the State, against such president, treasurer or oflicer, in any court of this State having jurisdiction; and if any such president, treasurer or financial officer shall fail and neglect to make and render the report so required of him, for the space of ninety days after the day on which it is made his duty by the preceding sections to make and render the same, said president, treasurer or other financial officer, so failing or neglecting as aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon indictment and conviction thereof, suffer imprisonment not exceeding six months. officers under 147. The comptroller of the treasury is hereby authorized and Id. s. 153. Comptroller empowered to examine upon oath, any officer of any railroad com- may examine pany in this State, touching the gross receipts or revenues of said oath. railroad company; and any such officer refusing to be sworn or to testify his information, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon indictment and conviction thereof in any court of this State having jurisdiction, shall for every offence be fined not less than one hun- Penalty for redred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, in the discretion fusing to testify. of the court. Penalty if com pay taxes when cause suit to be 148. If any such railroad company, from whom taxes shall be Id. s. 154. due and payable on their gross receipts as aforesaid, shall fail or pany neglects to neglect to pay the same to the treasurer of the State for the space ae. of one month after the same shall be due and payable as aforesaid, said company shall, for such offence, forfeit and pay to the State of Maryland an additional amount of ten per centum, as penalty or damages, to be added to the said taxes so due and unpaid; and it shall be the duty of the comptroller to add the same to the said Comptroller to account, and forthwith to make out said account, and certify the brought. same under the seal of his office, and to cause suit to be brought for said taxes in the Circuit Court for the county where the principal office of such company is located, or in the Superior Court of the City of Baltimore, if such principal office be located in said city; and the said suit shall stand for trial at the first term after service of the writ shall have been made on said company, and service of the writ aforesaid on any officer, agent, or employé of such railroad company, shall be deemed and taken as sufficient service on said company.. Id. s. 155. Company sum 149. If, upon the return of the writ issued against such railroad moned and fail- company, and the said company being duly summoned as aforesaid, ing to appear. Proceeding, if company appear. such company shall fail to appear, by attorney or agent, upon the call of the docket, it shall be the duty of the court to cause the personal appearance of said company to be entered, and the case shall stand for trial or hearing, and judgment shall be rendered as if said company had appeared by attorney; and if said company shall appear by attorney or agent, and either party shall desire a trial by jury, it shall be the duty of the court to cause issues to be framed, and a jury to be impanelled for the trial thereof; and if the verdict How judgment of the jury shall be for the State, judgment shall be entered without stay for the amount of the taxes so due as aforesaid, and ten per cent. additional as damages, with interest and costs, and a fee of fifty dollars shall be allowed the attorney, to be taxed in the plaintiff's costs in said suit, and execution shall be issued on said judgment if the same be not paid into the treasury within twenty days after the rendition thereof. entered, if for State. Id. s. 156. Certificate of comptroller, prima facie evidence. What property deemed liable to execution. Id. s. 157. Where railroad 150. The certificate of the comptroller, under seal, of the amount of tax so due as aforesaid, shall be prima facie evidence to entitle the State to judgment for said amount, and said penalty or damages; and any engine, car, or other property, found in the poseession of said company, or of any officer, agent, or employé thereof, in the service of the said company, shall be deemed and considered as the property of said company, and shall be liable to execution and sale for the payment of the said judgment and costs. 151. Whenever the road of any railroad company, organized extends beyond under the laws of this State, shall extend beyond the limits of this limits of State, State into any other State or States, and the return of the president, tain amount of treasurer, or other financial officer of said company, made to the how comp troller to ascer gross receipts within this State. Id. s. 158. comptroller, shall not show certainly and accurately the precise amount of gross receipts within this State, the comptroller may ascertain said amount by making the gross receipts in this State bear the same proportion to the whole gross receipts of said company as the number of miles of said road in this State does to the whole number of miles in length of said road. 152. The property, real and personal, of all railroad companies which shall duly pay into the treasury the said annual tax on gross receipts as aforesaid, shall be exempt from taxation for State purposes. RAILROAD PROPERTY. Railroad prop 1876, c. 159, s. 1. 153. The property, real and personal, of each and every railroad erty to be taxed. Company in this State, working their roads by steam, shall be assessed and taxed for county and municipal purposes in the same manner as the property of individuals is now assessed and taxed, and the authorities of the several counties and the city of Baltimore are hereby authorized and directed to proceed to assess and collect taxes on said property in the same manner as upon like property of individuals now assessed and taxed, or liable to assessment and taxation by the laws of this State; provided, that no extra assess- Exemptions. ment shall be made, and no extra or special tax shall be levied or collected on any bridge or bridges over streams, or on any tunnel forming any part of the roadway of any railroad or railroads in this State, it being the meaning and intent of this act that any bridge over streams or any tunnel forming a portion of the roadway of any of said railroads shall be valued at the same rate that any other equal portion of said road is valued. PAYMENT OF TAXES BY MISTAKE. take. into treasury.. tain. 154. If any person or corporation in this State shall have here- 1868, c. 302, s. I. Payment of tofore paid or shall hereafter pay by mistake, whether of law or fact, taxes by misto any lawful collector of State taxes any larger sum than was properly payable, and such taxes shall not have been paid by such col- Proceedings lector into the treasury of the State, such person or corporation may when not paid file a petition in the Circuit Court of the county in which such per- Petition to Cirson resides or in which such corporation has its principal place of cuit Court. business or in Baltimore City Court, if such person has his residence or such corporation its principal place of business in the city of Baltimore, stating in the said petition to whom said taxes were paid what to conand when and the amount thereof, and on what account and for what year the taxes were so paid, and all the facts necessary to enable the court to determine the question involved; and thereupon the said court shall lay a rule requiring the tax collector to whom said taxes Rule on collecwere paid to answer the petition by a day named, which rule shall tor. be served on such collector; and the State's attorney for the county or city of Baltimore in which the said petition shall be filed shall appear to said proceedings on behalf of the said collector without charge, and if the court after a hearing of the matter of said peti- Hearing.. tion in such manner and according to such regulations for ascertaining the facts of the case, as it shall by its rules prescribe, shall he of opinion that the taxes alleged to have been paid by mistake. were not legally demandable of said petitioner and were paid by execution. mistake, then it shall so declare and adjudge that the amount found Decree of court. to have been overpaid shall be returned to the petitioner by the said collector, deducting therefrom, however, any arrears of State taxes which may be shown to be due by said petitioner for any other years, or on any other account; and such judgment may be enforced by attachment or execution against the said collector, and his official Attachment or bond shall also be responsible for said judgment; the cost of the Costs. aforesaid proceedings shall be regulated by the court and paid by the petitioner or defendant as the court shall in its discretion determine; and for such portion of the costs as shall be awarded to be paid by the collector he shall be allowed in his settlements with the comptroller of the treasury. Id. s. 4. 155. Any of the parties to the said proceedings hereinbefore Right of appeal. provided for shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals from any judgment of any of the courts heretofore named; and upon such an appeal being prayed the record of the said cause shall be forthwith transmitted to the Court of Appeals if then in session, or to the next term thereof if not in session; and the said cause so transmitted shall be placed upon the special docket of the said court, and shall be heard and determined at the first session of the said court after the transmission of the said record as aforesaid. Proceedings. 24. License to sell liquor, etc., by persons car- 25. To sell liquor at horse-races. rying on fisheries. TELEGRAPH, EXPRESS, OR TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES OR ASSOCIATIONS. |