Merrill v. Austin

California Supreme Court
Merrill v. Austin, 53 Cal. 379 (Cal. 1879)

Merrill v. Austin

Opinion of the Court

*380By the Court :

The payment under protest was -made on the 2nd day of January, 1873, and before the tax (which was on personal property alone) was returned delinquent. Until the tax became delinquent, the plaintiff was not under such legal coercion as compelled the payment in order to save the collection of the amount by sale of his real property or otherwise. The payment was a voluntary payment, because the defendant was not then in a position to enforce the collection by a sale of plaintiff’s property. (Williams v. Corcoran, 46 Cal. 556; Bank of Woodland v. Webber, 52 Cal. 73, and other cases.)

Judgment and order reversed, as of the day of the submission of the cause. Kemittitur forthwith.

Reference

Full Case Name
J. C. MERRILL, LESLIE C. HANKS, and CHAS. R. MERRILL v. ALEX. AUSTIN, Tax Collector of the City and County of San Francisco
Cited By
4 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Yoluktaby Payment ob Tax.—The payment to a Tax Collector of the amount of a tax, made before the tax was returned delinquent, was voluntary, although accompanied by a protest in form, and the amount so paid cannot be recovered back.