[G. L. c. 59, § 29 ments recommended by the commissioners who consolidated the laws, making clear what is meant by a list and omitting intangible property subject to the income tax from the property to be included in the list.11 13 11 A list is a catalogue, inventory or schedule, itemized in sufficient detail to convey a reasonable understanding of the extent and nature of the subject to which it refers.12 Absolute precision in the description of property included in the list is not required, but a description may be so vague and uncertain as not to constitute a valid list.14 Mere reference to an old list is not sufficient,15 but if the assessors receive without objection a list referring to the list of a previous year for descriptions and values they may be held to have waived the insufficiency of the list.16 All persons who hold property liable to taxation are bound to bring in a list, whether they hold it in their own right or in a representative capacity, as executors, administrators or trustees," and a list filed by a person in one capacity cannot be treated as a list which he should have filed in another capacity." 18 The filing of lists by any or all of the taxpayers is not a condition precedent to the levy of a valid tax, and consequently 11 St. 1918, c. 257, § 36. 12 Boston Rubber Shoe Co. v. Malden, 216 Mass. 508 (1914); and note the present wording of the statute. 13 In Charlestown v. Middlesex County Commissioners, 1 Allen 199 (1861), the list of a railroad company described its taxable real estate as "all of its real estate except that embraced in its location, that is to say, 348,310 square feet of land and wharf with the buildings thereon-the same lying between Prison Point and Warren avenue, valued at $350,000." It was held a sufficient list. In Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory v. Fall River, 167 Mass. 517 (1897), it appeared that the petitioner filed a list describing under the head of real estate the mill buildings and machinery as "One stone mill and cloth room with water power, 21,744 mule spindles, 21,952 ring frame spindles." The mill had the machinery commonly found in such mills, and the word "spindle" signified not a piece of machinery but a unit of the capacity of the mill and its appliances. This meaning was understood by the assessors, who asked for no further explanation. It was held that the list was sufficient compliance with the statute. 14 Pingree v. Berkshire County Commissioners, 102 Mass. 76 (1869); Boston Rubber Shoe Co. v. Malden, 216 Mass. 508 (1914). 15 Winnisimmet Co. v. Assessors of Chelsea, 6 Cush. 477 (1850). 16 Great Barrington v. Berkshire County Commissioners, 112 Mass. 218 (1873). 17 Vaughn v. Street Commissioners of Boston, 154 Mass. 143 (1891). 18 Sears v. Nahant, 221 Mass. 437, 443 (1915). In that case it was held that a list filed by petitioners as trustees could not be taken as a list in their capacity as executors. As there is now no distinction between trustees and executors in the method of taxation it is doubtful if this decision is still law. G. L. c. 59, § 31] one taxpayer cannot refuse to pay his tax because other taxpayers have not brought in lists.19 Furnishing of Blank Lists SECTION 30. The assessors shall furnish a blank list prescribed by the commissioner under section five of chapter fifty-eight to any person liable to taxation. The provision for the preparation of forms by the tax commissioner for lists of property held for literary, charitable and similar purposes originated in 1882, and the provision for other property in 1894. In 1909 the statute was amended by requiring the tax commissioner to prepare instructions for drawing up the assessors' notice. Until 1909 it was open to argument whether the use of the tax commissioner's forms in filing lists of taxable property was optional, but in that year a statute was enacted which made the use of such forms a condition precedent to an abatement.1 Verification of List by Oath of Taxpayer SECTION 31. The assessors shall in all cases require a person bringing in a list to make oath that it is true. The oath may be administered by any of the assessors or by their secretary or head clerk, or by any notary public, whose jurat shall be duly authenticated by his seal, or, in this commonwealth, by a justice of the peace. So much of this section as relates to administering the oath shall not apply to Boston. In the statute of 1785 and in the Revised Statutes the requirement of an oath was optional with the assessors; but the enactment of a statute in 18531 which provided that no abatement should be made unless the list was sworn to led the commissioners who drew up the General Statutes to change "may to "shall" in the first line of this section. There was no further change until 1891 when the provisions for the administration of the oath by the secretary or the head clerk of the assessors were added, and it was also provided that if the person bringing 19 White v. New Bedford, 160 Mass. 217 (1893). 1 St. 1909, c. 517, § 2, now G. L. c. 59, § 61, infra page 287. 1 St. 1853, c. 319, now contained in G. L. c. 59, § 61, infra page 287, and see also Porter v. Norfolk County Commissioners, 3 Gray 265, 369 (1855). In [G. L. c. 59, § 32 in such list was absent from the place in which the tax was to be assessed during the whole period when such oath might be made, the oath might be administered by a notary public. 1916 it was provided that except in the city of Boston the oath might in all cases be administered by a notary public, or in this commonwealth by a justice of the peace; but in Boston the oath cannot be administered by a notary or justice unless the taxpayer is absent from the city during the whole period when the oath may be made.3 It has been held that the statute is mandatory and that a list to have any legal effect must be sworn to in the manner prescribed in the statute. It was held in decisions made prior to 1909 that the exact wording was immaterial if it sufficiently appeared that the person bringing in the list took oath that the list contained a statement of all his taxable property, but it would seem that the statute of 1909 prohibiting an abatement unless the list was upon one of the tax commissioner's forms" would render an oath taken in different words from those prescribed by the commissioner of no legal effect. In the case of a non-resident, a casual presence in the city of Boston not shown to have been during business hours or under such circumstances that the taxpayer might reasonably have sought the assessors would not invalidate a list sworn to by him before a notary public. A corporation owning taxable property in Boston, but having its principal offices and place of business in another town, might in any case file a return sworn to before a notary public, because such a corporation would be in the legal sense continuously absent from Boston.s Lists not Open to Public Inspection SECTION 32. Such lists shall be open to the inspection of the assessors, their assistants and clerks and of the commissioner and his deputies, the director of the division of local taxation and the 2 St. 1891, c. 381. 3 St. 1916, c. 130; St. 1916, c. 294. 4 Amherst College v. Assessors. of Amherst, 193 Mass. 168 (1906). 5 Charlestown v. Middlesex County Commissioners, 1 Allen 199 (1861); Lanesborough v. Berkshire County Commissioners, 131 Mass. 424 (1881). St. 1909, c. 517, § 2, now contained in G. L. c. 59, § 61, infra page 287. 7 Sears v. Nahant, 215 Mass. 329 (1913). This case was decided when the law as to administration of the oath was in force in the whole state, but the decision would seem applicable to Boston now. 8 Massachusetts General Hospital v. Belmont, 233 Mass. 190, 210 (1919). G. L. c. 59, § 34] supervisors of assessors; but so much of the lists as shows the details of the personal estate to that of no other person except by order of a court. The lists shall be preserved by the assessors until the commissioner orders them destroyed. Lists of Property in Storage Warehouses SECTION 33. All persons engaged in the business of storing or keeping merchandise in storage warehouses shall, within ten days after a request therefor by the assessors of the town where said property is so stored or kept, permit said assessors to copy from their records a list of the names and addresses of all persons who appear, on April first in such year, to have any such property stored or kept in any such warehouse; but such persons shall not be required to furnish lists of persons having property stored in warehouses which is composed of imported goods in original packages and owned by the importer, or of goods that have been received for export trade. Failure to comply with this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days. Statement of Amount Secured by Mortgage SECTION 34. A mortgagor or mortgagee of real estate may bring in to the assessors of the town where it lies, within the time prescribed by the notice under section twenty-nine, a sworn statement of the amount secured thereon or on each separate parcel thereof, with the name and residence of every holder of an interest therein as mortgagor or mortgagee. If such property is situated in two or more places, or if a recorded mortgage includes two or more estates or parts of an estate as security for one sum, such statements shall include an estimate of the interest of the mortgagee in each estate or part thereof. The assessors shall, from such statement or otherwise, ascertain the proportionate interests of the mortgagor or mortgagee respectively in said estates, and shall assess the same accordingly. If, in any year, such statement is not brought in, the tax for that year on such real estate shall not be invalid merely for the reason that the interest of the mortgagee therein has not been assessed to him. The occasion of the enactment of this statute and the effect it produced have already been discussed. The assessors may 1 G. L. c. 59, § 12, supra page 230. [G. L. c. 59, § 35 if they see fit make a separate assessment of the interests of the mortgagor and the mortgagee, although no statement under this section was filed.2 Lists to be Taken as True. Inquiries by Assessors SECTION 35. Assessors shall receive as true, except as to valuation, the list brought in by each person, unless, on being thereto required by the assessors, such person refuses to answer on oath all necessary inquiries as to the nature and amount of his property. This statute as it appeared in 1785 provided that if the assessors suspected any falsehood in a list they might require the person bringing it in to make oath that it was true; and such list, being exhibited on oath, should be a rule for that person's proportion of the tax which the assessors might not exceed unless they discovered some error therein, in which case they might assess such articles as appeared to be kept back. In the Revised Statutes of 1836 it was altered so as to provide that the assessors should receive as the true valuation of the property of each individual the list if any brought in by him unless he should on being thereto required by the assessors refuse to make oath that the same was true. It was held in 1846 that "valuation" in this statute, construed in connection with the other provisions of the statutes relating to taxation and the general system of assessment, did not mean "appraisement " or " value," but "schedule" and that the assessors were not bound by the estimate of value contained in a list. Accordingly, in the next revision, the statute was modified so as to express this interpretation in more apt phraseology; and as by this time the list was required to be supported by oath in every case, refusal to answer on oath necessary inquiries was made the condition upon which the list need not be taken as true. This statute for the first time authorized assessors to interrogate a person after he had filed a list, so that they might correct the list or disregard it if it appeared by an examination of the party that by mistake, oversight or erroneous view of the 2 Sullivan v. Boston, 198 Mass. 119 (1908). 1 St. 1785, c. 50, § 9. 2 R. S. c. 7, § 22. 3 Newburyport v. Essex County Commissioners, 12 Met. 211 (1816). |