TAXATION OF PUBLIC COMPANIES
Act of Jun. 10, 1881, P.L. 99, No. 107
A SUPPLEMENT
To an act, entitled "An act to provide revenue by taxation,"
approved the seventh of June, one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-nine.
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That all mortgages, money
owing by solvent debtors, whether by promissory note or penal or
single bill, bond or judgment, also all articles of agreement
and accounts bearing interest, owned or possessed by any person
or persons whatsoever, except notes or bills for work or labor
done and all obligations given to banks for money loaned and
bank notes, also all shares of stock in any bank, banking or
saving institution or company, now or hereafter incorporated by
or in pursuance of any law of this commonwealth, and all public
loans or stocks whatsoever, except those issued by this
commonwealth or the United States, and all money loaned or
invested in any other state, any all other moneyed capital in
the hands of individual citizens of the state, shall be and are
hereby taxable for state purposes, at the rate of four mills on
the dollar of the value thereof annually: Provided, That all
mortgages, judgments and recognizances whatsoever, and all
moneys due or owing upon articles of agreement for the sale of
real estate shall, after the passage of this act, be exempt from
all taxation, except for state purposes: Provided, The
provisions of this act shall not apply to building and loan
associations; Provided, however, That moneys loaned by building
and loan associations shall be subject to tax the same as money
loaned by individuals.
Section 2. That hereafter all corporations, paying interest
on a loan or loans which are taxable for state purposes whether
secured by bond mortgage, recognizance or otherwise, shall
report annually, in the month of November, to the auditor
general the amount of such indebtedness owned by residents of
this commonwealth, as nearly as can be ascertained, under oath
of the president or treasurer, and shall pay into the state
treasury four mills upon every dollar of such indebtedness so
returned and owned by residents as aforesaid, within fifteen
days after the thirty-first day of December in each year; and
for every failure to report or pay as aforesaid the auditor
general shall add ten per centum as a penalty to the said tax;
and the said tax may be deducted by the corporation paying the
same from the interest on such indebtedness, whereupon such
indebtedness, whether secured by bond, mortgage, judgment or
otherwise, shall be exempt from other taxation in the hands of
the holders thereof.
Section 3. In case any bank or savings institution,
incorporated by this state or the United States, shall elect to
collect annually from the shareholders thereof a tax of six
tenths of one per centum upon the par value of all the shares of
said bank or savings institution, and pay the same into the
state treasury on or before the first day of March in each year,
the shares, and so much of the capital and profits of such bank
Cl. 72
as shall not be invested in real estate, shall be exempt from
all other taxation under the laws of this commonwealth.
Section 4. It shall be the duty of the president or cashier
of every bank or savings institution, incorporated under the
laws of this commonwealth or of the United States and doing
business in this commonwealth, failing to pay in the six mill
tax as aforesaid, to make report in writing to the auditor
general on or before the twentieth day of June in each year,
stating specifically the amount of capital stock and the amount
paid in, a full and complete list of the shareholders of such
bank or savings institution, with their residence and number and
par value of shares of stock held by each person respectively,
value of said stock in the market where such bank is located
during the year ending with the twentieth day of June, which
said report shall be verified by the oath of the president or
cashier, taken before some officer authorized to administer
oaths; and the said president or cashier shall also furnish a
duplicate original of said report to the commissioners of the
proper city or county in which such bank or institution is
located, to be used by them for the purpose of assessing all
taxes against said shareholders. The auditor general shall have
power to inquire into the value of such stock, and either abate
or increase the assessment as may be just. If the said bank
officer shall neglect or refuse to furnish the reports aforesaid
as above required, it shall be the duty of the auditor general
to require the said officers to appear before him in person with
the books and accounts of the said bank or savings institution
for interrogation and examination, and the auditor general shall
have power to issue subpoenas and attachments, to be served by
any constable or sheriff, and to compel the attendance of such
bank officer and the production of such books and papers as he
may deem necessary to make a correct list of the shareholders,
with their residences and the number and value of their shares;
and the said auditor general may settle an account in the usual
mode against the individual shareholders for the state tax of
four mills and proceed to collect the same according to law, and
he shall also transmit the lists and assessments made by him to
the commissioners of the proper cities and counties to be used
by them in assessing taxes against the said shareholders.
Section 5. That one-half the taxes imposed by the fourth
section of the act to which this is a supplement, and the
revenues derived therefrom, shall be assigned to the sinking
fund of this commonwealth, and all other taxes imposed by the
said act, and the revenue derived therefrom, shall be applicable
to the payment of the ordinary and current expenses of the
government.
Section 6. The office of assessor provided for under the
second section of the act entitled "An act to increase the
revenue of the Commonwealth by taxation of the shares of the
stock of the national banks," approved April twelfth, one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, is hereby abolished.
That the limitation of the amount of state tax to be raised on
personal property to the sum of five hundred thousand dollars,
contained in the third section of the act of twenty-fourth of
May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, entitled "An
act defining the powers and extending the duties of the board of
revenue commissioners," in words following: "Which tax shall
not, as finally adjusted, exceed in the aggregate the sum of
five hundred thousand dollars, be and the same is hereby
repealed. The eleventh and seventeenth sections of the act to
which this is a supplement are hereby repealed, saving,
reserving, and excepting unto the commonwealth the right to
collect any taxes accrued or accruing under said sections, prior
to the date of the approval of this act.
Section 7. That all insurance companies, which shall, within
thirty days after the approval of this act, pay into the
treasury of this commonwealth the amount of money claimed by the
commonwealth for taxes upon their gross premiums, for the period
of time between the twentieth day of March, Anno Domini one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven and the first day of
January, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one,
together with interest upon the same, shall be liable, from and
after the first day of January, Anno Domini one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-one, during the continuance of this act, to
no taxes upon their premiums, except upon such as were or shall
be received from business transacted within this commonwealth.