Whitbeck v. Mercantile Nat. Bank of Cleveland

Citations

• 127 U.S. 193
• 8 S. Ct. 1121
• 32 L. Ed. 118
• 1888 U.S. LEXIS 1978

Syllabus

<p>The auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, fixed the taxable value of shares in a national bank at 60 per cent of their true value in money, in accordance ■with the practice adopted for the valuation of other moneyed capital of individuals in the courts and State, and transmitted the same to the State Board of Equalization for incorporated banks. That board increased the valuation to 65 per cent, and this value, being certified back to the auditor, was placed by him on the tax list without a corresponding change being made in the valuation of other moneyed capital of individuals. Held, that this was such a discrimination as is forbidden by § 5219 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.</p> <p>The statutes of Ohio regulating assessments for taxation allow an owner of moneyed capital other than shares in a national bank to have a deduction equal to his bona fide indebtedness made from the amount of the assessment of the value of such moneyed capital; but they make no provision for a similar deduction from the assessed value of shares in a national bank, and provide no means by which such a deduction may be obtained. Held:</p> <p>(1) That the owners of such shares are entitled to have a deduction of their indebtedness made from its assessed value as in the case of other moneyed capital; and</p> <p>(2) That the right to it is not lost by not making a demand for it until the entire process of the appraisement and equalization of the value of the shares for taxation is completed, and the tax duplicate is delivered to the treasurer' for collection.</p> <p>The laws of Ohio regulating the taxation of shares in national banks considered.</p>