G. L. c. 59, § 59] In 1815 it was enacted that a town might provide for the allowance of discount on taxes paid voluntarily before they were due; 10 and this provision remained in force until 1913, when the provision now in force was adopted." Abatement by Assessors SECTION 59. A person aggrieved by the taxes assessed upon him may, within six months after the date of his tax bill, apply to the assessors for an abatement thereof; and if they find him taxed at more than his just proportion, or upon an assessment of any of his property in excess of its fair cash value, they shall make a reasonable abatement. A tenant of real estate paying rent therefor and under obligation to pay more than a moiety of the taxes thereon may apply for such abatement. The most advantageous means of contesting an illegal or excessive tax, provided the person assessed has complied with the necessary preliminary steps, is to petition the assessors for its abatement, and, if necessary, to pursue the procedure provided by statute for appeal from their decisions; for in one proceeding the question whether the tax is to stand in whole or in part or not at all can be settled without unnecessary delay.1 3 There is no other method of contesting a tax on the ground that it is excessive in amount, provided the assessors have jurisdiction of the subject-matter,2 act with integrity and fidelity and commit a warrant to the collector that is regular on its face.* The proceedings before the assessors are informal, and the application for an abatement need not be in writing. No person can apply for an abatement unless the tax was assessed upon him, except a tenant of real estate under the conditions prescribed by the statute; consequently the purchaser of a parcel of land upon which there is a lien for an unpaid tax cannot apply to have the tax abated." 10 St. 1815, c. 130, §§ 2, 4. 11 St. 1913, c. 688, §3. 1 Milford Water Co. v. Hopkinton, 192 Mass. 491, 498 (1906); Welch v. Boston, 211 Mass. 178 (1912). 2 See G. L. c. 60, § 98, infra page 405. 3 See G. L. c. 59, § 87, infra page 314. 4 See supra page 282, and infra page 326. 5 Page v. Melrose. 186 Mass. 361 (1904). 6 Hough v. North Adams, 196 Mass. 290 (1907); Dunham v. Lowell, 200 Mass. 468 (1909). 7 [G. L. c. 59, § 60 If there is a change in the composition of the board of assessors between the assessment of a tax and the hearing upon its abatement, the abatement is to be passed upon by the new board. Assessors have no power to abate a tax after their term of office has expired. Assessors have a right to abate on their own motion and without the filing of any petition a tax on a person not properly assessable or one whom they consider unable to contribute to the public charges." An application for abatement must be filed within six months of the date of the tax bill. If the bill was not dated but the postmark on the envelope shows when it was sent out the date is sufficiently established and the application for abatement must be made within six months from that date.10 A postal card sent by the collector to the person assessed, stating the amount due, for what, from whom and to whom due and when and where to be paid is a tax bill within the meaning of the statute.11 Record of Abatements SECTION 60. Every board of assessors shall keep a record of all abatements of taxes. The record of abatement of the whole or any part of any tax shall show plainly the following details, viz: First, The name or title in which the tax stands assessed. Second, The year in which the tax was assessed. Third, The total amount of the tax. Fourth, The date when the abatement was made. Fifth, The sum abated on poll tax. Sixth, The sum abated on personal estate. Eighth, The total sum abated. Ninth, In case of an abatement to put into effect a statutory exemption, exact reference to the statutory provision under which the exemption was granted and in all other cases a statement of the cause or reason for the abatement. 7 Carleton v. Ashburnham, 102 Mass. 348 (1869). 8 Cheshire v. Howland, 13 Gray 321 (1859). 9 Gordon v. Sanderson, 165 Mass. 375 (1896). 10 Amherst College v. Assessors of Amherst, 193 Mass. 168 (1906). 11 Amherst College v. Assessors of Amherst, 193 Mass. 168 (1906). G.L. c. 59, § 61] If the record of an abatement is made as a part of the record of a meeting of the board of assessors it shall be signed by the clerk or secretary of the board for that meeting; otherwise by a majority of the board. Effect of Failure to File List SECTION 61. A person shall not have an abatement, except as otherwise provided, unless he has brought in to the assessors the list of his estate as required by section twenty-nine. A tenant of real estate paying rent and under obligation to pay more than a moiety of the taxes thereon, may have an abatement although no such list was brought in. If such list is not filed within the time specified in the notice required by section twenty-nine, no part of the tax assessed on the personal estate shall be abated unless the applicant shows to the assessors a reasonable excuse for the delay or unless such tax exceeds by more than fifty per cent the amount which would have been assessed on such estate if the list had been seasonably brought in, and in such case only the excess over such fifty per cent shall be abated. If the applicant was not required by said notice to include his real estate in said list, and has not done so, he shall, if he seeks an abatement of the tax on his real estate, file with his application a list of his real estate, with an estimate of the fair cash value of each parcel. In Boston, said list shall be verified as provided by section two of chapter two hundred and ninety-four of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and sixteen. In other cities, and in towns, it shall be verified as provided in section thirty-one of this chapter. Except as provided by section seventy-one, no abatement of a tax assessed on personal estate shall be made until such list is in the possession of the assessors. The statutes do not make it obligatory to bring in a list or make it a criminal offense to refuse to do so. A person may at his option decline giving in his list and leave the assessors to ascertain the amount of his taxable property; but if he does so he tacitly submits himself to their valuation and assessment and of necessity waives all those exceptions which he could take only on condition of handing in a list. He submits himself to what is called in some of the earlier statutes the doom of the assessors. He may find an advantage in this, because the assessors according to their best information and belief may assess him for less property than he is liable for. The statute [G. L. c. 59, § 61 was founded upon the equitable consideration that he shall not take this chance and afterward, if it is unfavorable, have all the same benefit as if he had given in a true statement for the information of the assessors in the first instance.1 In the colony laws there does not seem to have been any provision for the furnishing of lists by the taxable inhabitants, and it was provided that if a taxpayer could satisfy the assessors that he was "overvalued" he could be "eased" by them, and in the early part of the provincial period the law as to the right of abatement seems to have continued substantially the same. But as early as 1715 the annual or special tax acts provided that the assessors before making the assessment should call upon the inhabitants to bring in true and perfect lists of their polls and ratable estates and imposed a fine upon any one who should bring in a false list; and this form of legislation continued for a number of years. The bringing in of such list however was not made a condition precedent to a right to an abatement. In 1735 it was provided that if any person neglected to bring in a list it should be lawful for the assessors to assess such person in their sound judgment and discretion, and it was subsequently provided that their estimate should be conclusive upon him unless he had a reasonable excuse for his omission. Probably the assessors, at least before the committal of their warrant to the tax collector, could have abated a tax if they saw fit, although no list was filed; and the law continued without substantial change in this regard until 1853 when it was enacted that no abatement should be made of the taxes assessed upon any individual until he should have filed with the assessors a list subscribed by him of his estate liable to taxation and made oath that it was a full and accurate list of the same according to his best knowledge and belief. Under this statute it was held that the discretion of assessors to abate taxes was cut down so that they could no longer abate taxes unless a list was filed. Such list however might be filed any time before the abatement. If filed after an appeal from the 3 1 Lincoln v. Worcester, 8 Cush. 55 (1851). For a learned and exhaustive study of the development of the statutes upon this subject, see the opinion of Hammond J., in Sears v Nahant, 205 Mass. 558 (1910). 2 See G. L. c. 59, § 37, supra page 266. 3 Winnisimmet Co. v Assessors of Chelsea, 6 Cush. 477, 481 (1850); Sears v. Nahant, 205 Mass. 558 (1910). 4 Porter v. Norfolk County Commissioners, 5 Gray 365 (1855). 5 Porter v. Norfolk County Commissioners, 5 Gray 365 (1855). G. L. c. 59, § 61] assessors' decision it was too late and the assessors never had jurisdiction to abate the tax. In 1865 the power of the assessors to abate the taxes of inhabitants who were dilatory in filing lists was still further restricted. Thereafter if a person assessed had not filed his list within the time specified in the assessors' notice and did not have reasonable excuse for the delay, his tax could not be abated by the assessors below a sum equal to the proper amount plus fifty per cent. That the assessors had no jurisdiction to abate a tax in any degree, no matter what excuse there was for delay in filing the list, if the list was not filed before they acted upon the petition for abatement (or, perhaps, before the petition was filed), was the rule before 1865; and it was not modified by the legislation of that year. 8 In 1898 it was held that the inhabitants of the town in which the tax was assessed were the only persons required to file lists within the time specified by the assessors, and accordingly a list filed by a non-resident taxpayer before the petition for abatement was seasonably filed. In 1903 the statute was amended so as to require assessors to give notice to all persons subject to taxation in their respective cities and towns to bring in lists,10 and since the enactment of that statute non-residents who are subject to taxation in any city or town have the same obligations in regard to lists as taxable inhabitants.11 The obligation to return a list extends to corporations 12 and to all persons whether in a representative or an individual capacity who hold property liable to taxation.13 The requirement of an oath is mandatory and the filing of a sworn list is a necessary condition precedent to an abatement.1 • Otis Co. v. Ware, 8 Gray 509 (1857). 7 Winnisimmet Co. v. Assessors of Chelsea, 6 Cush. 477 (1850); Porter v. Norfolk County Commissioners, 5 Gray 365 (1855); Otis Co. v. Ware, 8 Gray 509 (1857). 8 Charlestown v. Middlesex County Commissioners, 101 Mass. 87 (1869); Amherst College v. Assessors of Amherst, 193 Mass. 168 (1906). 9 Hopkins v. Reading, 170 Mass. 568 (1898). A non-resident was bound to file a list before the petition for abatement was acted on. Otis Co. v. Ware, 8 Gray 509 (1857). 10 St. 1903, c. 157. 11 Atlantic Maritime Co. v. Gloucester, 214 Mass. 348 (1913). 12 Otis Co. v. Ware, 8 Gray 509 (1857); Atlantic Maritime Co. v. Gloucester, 214 Mass. 348 (1913). 13 Vaughn v. Street Commissioners of Boston, 154 Mass. 143 (1891). 14 Amherst College v. Assessors of Amherst, 193 Mass. 168 (1906). |