Commonwealth v. Megargee Bros.

Citations

• 275 Pa. 12
• 118 A. 541
• 1922 Pa. LEXIS 442

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Corporations—Debts — Interest — Return to State-Acts of June 17,1918, P. L. 507, and July 15,1919, P. L. 955.</p> <p>1. Under section 17 of the Act of June 17, 1913, P. L. 507, as amended by the Act of July 15, 1919, P. L. 955, a domestic corporation must make return to the State of its outstanding bonds, notes, certificates and evidences of indebtedness, which are held by residents of the Commonwealth, whether those obligations were issued by the corporation, or it assumed liability for them, or paid interest on them.</p> <p>2. Under such circumstances, the designated interest on such securities should not be paid in full to the owners thereof; the four mills tax should be deducted therefrom and only the balance paid to the owners.</p> <p>3. Since the passage of the amendatory Act of July 15, 1919, P. L. 955, the owners of such securities are not required, by section 1 of the Act of June 17, 1913, P. L. 507, to make return of them or pay to the county the four mills tax on them.</p> <p>4. Commonwealth v. DuPont Land Co., 254 Pa. 446; Com. v. Eoxford Knitting Co., 268 Pa. 266, and Com. v. Lehigh & New England E. R. Co., 268 Pa. 271, considered, and shown to be inapplicable to taxes accruing after the date of the Act of 1919.</p> <p>Practice — Case-stated—What facts may be considered.</p> <p>5. In determining what judgment should be entered on an agreed statement of facts, only such facts can be considered as the parties have expressly agreed to or as are necessarily to be implied from them; for the purposes of the case all others must be treated as if not existing.</p> <p>Statutes — Construction—Surplusage—Maxims.</p> <p>6. Whenever reasonably possible, all the words in a statute are to be given an appropriate meaning and none are to be treated as surplusage.</p> <p>7. The maxim “cessante ratione cessat et ipsa lex” applied.</p>