McNeill v. Hagerty
McNeill v. Hagerty
Opinion of the Court
It was the judgment of the circuit court that, by force of the statutes relating to taxation, it became the duty of an assig-nee for the benefit of creditors, acting under our insolvent laws, to return for taxation all moneys, the proceeds of the sale of assets of the assignor, which he might, as such assignee, have on hand, or on deposit in bank, on the day preceding the second Monday of April, and all investments in bonds, stocks, joint stock companies,- or otherwise, held by him as assignee, which, under the law, would be taxable if held by an individual, resident of the state.
That court was further of opinion that from the value of such property so to be returned the assignee could not legally deduct the sum. of the legal bona fide debts owing by his assignor at the time of making such return.
While recognizing the cogency of the reasoning, we have been unable to agree with this view of the law as bearing upon these eases.
It may be further assumed that there is no specific exemption of property in the hands of assignees from taxation, either in the statute, or in the constitution.
It is to be noted that the question is not whether the assets of the insolvent may be subjected to payment of taxes owing by him. But the question is whether or not the fund itself in the hands of the assignee is subject to taxation.
The constitutional requirement (section 2, of article (12), is that: “Laws shall be passed, taxing by a uniform rule, all moneys, credits, investments in bonds, stocks,” etc., and the statute relating to the subject is embraced in section 2730, Revised Statutes, and following.
Looking at these sections alone, it is, we concede, natural to conclude that a duty would devolve on assignees to return for taxation property in their hands, except perhaps that which might be in the form strictly of credits. But the purpose of the legislature is to be arrived at by a consideration of all the legislation bearing upon the subject, and not by a consideration of a-portion only.
Our statutes, sections 6335 to 6358, place the disposition of insolvent estates within the control of the probate court, and direct the duties of the assignee, and the procedure in the administration of the trust. ' When once acquired, the jurisdiction
It-is made the duty of the assignee to convert the assigned property into money, and, at the expiration of eight months, file an account, as a step preliminary k> an order distributing the money to creditors, which is to be done without unnecessary delay, according to their respective claims and rights. The effect of the assignment is to devote the property absolutely to the satisfaction of the debts of the assignor, just as they existed at the time of the assignment, subject, necessarily, to be depleted by the expenses of the trust.
Provision is made for the payment by the assignee of preferred liens upon the property, if any exist, and for the payment of taxes in preference to any other claim against the assignor. The language in this regard is significant: All taxes of every description assessed against the assignor upon any personal property held by him before his assignment, shall be paid by the assignee or trustee, out of' the proceeds of the property assigned in preference to any other claims against the assignor.” Nowhere is it in terms provided that the assignee shall list the property for taxation, nor is provision made for the payment of any taxes save those existing against the assignor. This omission seems to us significant when contrasted with the duty enjoined by other sections of the statute upon other trustees. By section 2734, returns must be made of the property of every ward by his guardian, “of every estate of a deceased person, by his executor or administrator; of corporations whose assets are in the hands of receivers, by such receivers. ” It is made the duty of every executor or administrator “to apply the assets to the payment of debts in the following order: * * Fourth, public rates and taxes, and sums due the state for duties on sales at auction.” For such payments of taxes the administrator or executor is allowed in the settlement of his accounts. The provision relating to the payment of taxes by assignees is that ‘ ‘ all taxes of every description assessed against the assignor upon any personal property held by him before his assignment, shall be paid by the assignee,” etc., and if
The omissions referred to would seem also to suggest a distinction between the relation of an assignee to creditors of. the assignor and to the trust property held by him, and the relation sustained-by a guardian, an administrator, or a receiver of a corporation, to beneficiaries interested in the trust property, as well as to the property itself; and, we think a distinction is observable between the relation sustained by creditors of an insolvent assignor to the assigned property, and that of beneficiaries of property in charge of the other functionaries above named.
The relation of guardian to the ward is, while it lasts, a permanent one. He manages the estate for the benefit of the ward, and it is his duty to so manage as to make profit and interest for the ward. As to the property, the ward has no power over it, nor duty respecting it.
As to administrators, it is true that property in their hands is subject to the payment of the debts of the decedent, and that creditors are expected to list their claims as credits, and often it happens that the debts consume the entire assets. But usually there is in fact, as well as in contemplation, a residue going to widows and legatees or heirs, and they are not required to list for taxation any amount until it is actually received.
The duty enjoined upon receivers to list is confined to receivers of corporations. Such receivers are usually empowered to prosecute the business for the benefit of the parties interested. This carries the idea of a continuance of the business
It is, however, urged that the clause of section 2734 which requires that the property of every person for whose benefit property is held in trust must be listed by the trustee, furnishes authority for requiring such listing by an assignee of an insolvent. It is true that, in a general, broad sense, an assignee is a trustee, and, in other sections of the Revised Statutes, the terms “assignee” and “trustee” are coupled, as though the words mean the same.
But it does not follow that the term “trustee” is used in this broad.sense in this clause of the statute, for equally, in the same sense, is a guardian or administrator, or a receiver, a trustee, and if the term had been intended in so broad a sense as to include assignees of insolvents, it would, also embrace the other trustees named, and the special provisions regarding them would be superfluous. We think the purpose of this clause is fully satisfied by confining its application to that large class of trusts where title and possession are placed in one for the benefit of others, in some permanent form, and from which, in general, interest income or profit, is expected to be derived.
To hold that property in possession of an assignee, as in these cases, must be listed and taxes paid on it is, in effect, to hold that the creditors must be taxed twice on the same value. While the legal title to the property is in the assignee, it is so only for the purpose of facilitating the settlement of the trust. Equitably, the property is vested in the creditors. Every dollar paid in taxes by the assignee reduces by that amount the dividend which the creditors' will receive. That it is the duty of creditors, under the law, to list their claims as creditors, admits, we suppose of no doubt, and, we submit, that it is no answer to say that creditors cannot know the value of such credits. Such condition attaches to a very large proportion of credits held by the commercial, and especially the mercantile, world. Nor, is it any answer to say that, as matter of fact, they will not list the claims. No good reason why they should not exist, unless it would be furnished by arequirement compelling the assignee to
The assignee is, in every essential particular, an officer of court. The fund is in his hands as such, and he is bound to do with it just what the court directs. The fund, therefore, is really in the custody of the court, and, as before stated, the beneficial interest is in the creditors. They cannot, 'it is true, receive their own at once, but that is because it requires some time to reduce the assets to money, and for the adjustment of the debts and claims. To require the listing of any of the property thus held by the assignee, and the payment of taxes on it, would manifestly interfere with the orderly execution of the trust. And if, as is claimed in argument, in case payment of taxes so levied is not voluntarily made by the assignee, distraint might be resorted to by the tax collector, and the property seized and taken forcibly from
If the clause of section 2734, relating to the listing of trust property by trustees, requires a listing of property by the assignee of an insolvent whose estate is being settled in the probate court, no reason can be given why the same duty would not devolve upon receivers of partnerships, clerks of courts, sheriffs or master commissioners, as to funds which may chance to be in tlieir hands on the day preceding the second Monday of April, subject to payment upon order of court. To state such a proposition is to refute it. And this because it is unreasonable to assume that, in the absence of express authority, the duty to list embraces property which the law has taken into its own hands simply to collect and distribute, and of which it has designated a temporary trustee for the better accomplishment of its work.
Our conclusion is that neither by the constitution, nor by the statute, when construction is given to all the sections bearing upon the subject, is it made the duty of an assignee of an insolvent whose estate is being settled in the probate court, to list the property so held by him for taxation.
The judgments of the circuit court toill be reversed and those of the common pleas affi/nned.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.