Sartorious & Co. v. Descartes
Sartorious & Co. v. Descartes
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Sartorious & Co. is a civil partnership organized under the laws of the State of New York where it has its main office. In the years 1947 and 1948 it was the owner of 200 shares of outstanding stock of The Fajardo Sugar Company of Puerto Rico, a corporation organized under the laws of this Island. Each share of that corporation entitled the owner to receive not only the dividends declared by the corporation but also those declared by The Fajardo Sugar Growers Association, a joint-stock company organized under the laws of the State of New York. As stockholder of The Fajardo Sugar Company of Puerto Rico, plaintiff received the sum of $800 in 1947 and $1,150 in 1948. Both amounts had accrued after August 5, 1947, effective date of the amendment of the Organic Act in force at the time.
On January 28, 1949, the appellant filed with the appel-lee two claims for refund, one for $116 and the other for $174, which it alleged having paid in excess. On February 2 of that same year the Secretary of the Treasury notified the appellant that he had denied those claims. The partnership then appealed to the former Tax Court of Puerto Rico,
The lower court stated in its judgment that the question raised “was decided by this court adversely to plaintiff in several cases, among them that of Gilbert J. Postley v. Treasurer of Puerto Rico.” Plaintiff contends that inas
The trial court likewise stated the following:
“Furthermore, assuming- that the amendment to the Organic Act of Puerto Rico by the United States Congress on August 5, 1947, was a blanket prohibition of discrimination in tax rates between citizens of the United States who are residents and those who are non-residents, plaintiff herein is a partnership that possessed and was the owner of shares yielding the income in question, and it is well known that the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution of the United States is only applicable to natural persons and not to legal entities.”
The above statements are cited in support of the second error assigned. We do not agree with appellant. The amendment to our Organic Act made on the aforesaid date, as has been seen, provides:
“The rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens of the United States shall be respected in Puerto Rico to the same extent as though Puerto Rico were a State of the Union and subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of section 2 of article IV of the Constitution of the United States.” 61 Stat. 772, 48 U.S.C. § 737.
“The term ‘citizens’ as there used applies only to natural persons, members of the body politic, owing allegiance to the State, not to artificial persons created by the Legislature, and possessing only the attributes which the Legislature has prescribed. It is true that it has been held that where contracts or rights of property are to be enforced by or against corporations, the courts of the United States will, for the purpose of maintaining jurisdiction, consider the corporation as representing citizens of the State under the laws of which it is created, and to this extent will treat a corporation as a citizen within the clause of the Constitution extending the judicial power of the United States to controversies between citizens of different States ....
“But in no case which has come under our observation, either in the state or Federal Courts, has a corporation been considered a citizen within the meaning of that provision of the Constitution which declares that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States.”
That court expressed the same view in the cases of Blake v. McClung, 172 U. S. 239, 43 L. Ed. 432 and Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U. S. 233, 80 L. Ed. 660. We entirely agree with that ruling.
Finally, the petitioner contends that the trial court erred “in declaring that it was not established that the appellant’s partners did not suffer the economic burden of the tax withheld and collected, the refund of which is now sought.” In discussing this error the appellant contends that in the State of New York, contrary to Puerto Rico, the partnership is not a legal entity separate and apart from the individuals
Plaintiff, as we have already said, is a foreign partnership not engaged in industry or business within Puerto Rico. The letter of the statute clearly imposes the tax on the partnership directly. The fact that, in the state where it was organized, it is not a legal entity separate and apart from the individuals composing it, in no way places it in an advantageous position over partnerships organized in states where such situation does not prevail. Ubi lex non dis-tinguit, nec nos distinguere debemus.
The judgment appealed from will be affirmed.
The amendment to the Organic Act of Puerto Rico, then in force, reads:
“The rights, privileges, and immunities of citizens of the United States shall be respected in Puerto Rico to the same extent as though Puerto Rico were a State of the Union and subject to the provisions of paragraph 1 of section 2 of article IV of the Constitution of the United 'States.” 61 Stat. 772, 48 U.S.C. $ 737.
See Act No. 11 of July 24. 1952 (Spec, Sess. Laws, p. 30).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.