Allwood v. Cowen

Citations

• 111 Ill. 481

Syllabus

<p>section 2V or toe itevenue act, to deduct from ms credits lor each year tne amount of bona fide debts owing by Mm for the same years, respectively; and it is only the balance of the credits that is subject to taxation.</p> <p>2. Same — assessor’s finding as to amount of credits — how far conclusive. The acts of an assessor in ascertaining and determining the amount of credits of a party for a given year, and the amount of bona fide debts to be deducted therefrom, are in the nature of judicial acts, and are not subject to review by his successor, although decided ever so erroneously. No power is given to his successor, whether it be himself or another, to correct or in any manner revise his judgment in such matters; nor has an assessor in a subsequent year any authority to raise the assessed value of any article of personal property which has been once fixed for a former year.</p> <p>3. Same — as to omitted property — of its assessment in subsequent year— distinguished from a revision of a prior assessment as to valuation. The .provisions of section 276 of the Revenue act, that if any real or personal property shall be omitted in the assessment of any year or number of years, when discovered it shall be listed and assessed, etc., applies only to cases where the owner omits to list the whole number of articles of personal property, — as, for instance, the whole number of horses he may own, — in which case the specific articles omitted may, when “ discovered, ” be assessed, etc. Such section has no application to the case of credits, so as to enable one assessor to go back and increase the amount found by his predecessors.</p> <p>4. Injunction — to restrain collection of taxes — upon what grounds. A court of equity has jurisdiction to enjoin the collection of a tax when it is levied without authority of law, or when the property assessed is not subject to taxation. Where an assessor, in assessing a party’s personal property and credits, went back three years, and ra