Hopkins v. Baker Bros.

Boyd, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This case was tried in the Baltimore City Court on an •agreed statement of facts. The agreement shows that Charles J. Baker, William Baker, Jr., and Charles E. Baker, compose the firm of Baker Bros, and Company; that Charles E. Baker is a resident of Baltimore City, and the other two members of the firm are residents of Baltimore County; that Charles J. Baker has a fourteuths interest, and the other two have each a three-tenths interest, in the firm. It is admitted that the place of business of the firm is on Charles street, in Baltimore City, at which place is kept the stock of the partnership, of an average value of $80,000.00; that the' firm has been assessed by the Appeal Tax Court of Baltimore City for $80,000.00 on their stock, and $750.00 on their horses used in their business, and taxed $1,393.95 for State and City taxes for 1892. ³⁷⁰ The appellees declined to pay those taxes, but were willing to pay on the horses, which they keep permanently in the city, and on the three-tenths interest of Charles E. Baker.

The question raised by the agreed statement of facts and the prayers was whether taxes-could be levied and collected from the whole stock of the-firm, or whether only the three-tenths interest of Charles E. Baker therein was liable. The Court below decided that the plaintiff was only entitled to recover the amount of taxes due for the horses and for the interest of Charles E. Baker in the whole stock of the partnership. A judgment was entered accordingly for $432.38 with interest and costs, and the plaintiff appealed to this Court. The appellees rely upon section 51 of Article 3 of the-Constitution of Maryland, which provides that: “The personal property of residents of this State shall be subject to taxation in the county, or city, where the resident bona fide resides for the greater part of the year for which the tax may or shall be levied, and not elsewhere, except goods and chattels permanently located, which shall be-taxed in the city or county where they are so located.” The principal question to be determined is the meaning-of the term “permanently located,” as used in that section of the Constitution, it being contended by the appellees that the goods and chattels composing their stock in trade are not “permanently located” in the City of Baltimore.

Article 15 of the Declaration of Rights asserts that “every person in the State, or person holding property therein, ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes for the support of the government, according to his actual worth in real or personal property.” Taking this in connection with the provision of the Constitution above quoted, it is clear that it was contemplated by the framers of the Constitution that per ³⁷¹ sonal property such as that referred to in this case should be taxed somewhere. If a resident of Baltimore County has personal property, carriage, and horses, for example, which go in and out of the city, without having any permanent abiding place in the city, he should pay taxes on the same in Baltimore County. The object of the constitutional provision was to insure as far as possible taxation once, and to prevent it more than once on the same property. As the situs of personal property is ordinarily the place of residence of the owner, the Constitution provides that personal property should be taxed where the owner bona fide resides for the greater part of the year; but, as that provision alone might work great hardship on the county or city where goods and chattels of the owner are permanently located, the exception was made.

Goods and chattels permanently located at the residence of the owner are to be taxed there, so what might be called his “floating” goods and chattels’ are taxed at the place of his residence, because they have no actual situs of their own, and hence that of their owner is adopted, but such goods and chattels as compose the stock in trade of the appellees are not carried backwards and forwards between Baltimore County, or some other county and the City of Baltimore. As .long as they are the property of the appellees they are located in Baltimore City, and they are as “permanently located’' there as such goods and chattels can be any where. They are not manufactured or purchased to be kept as long as they remain in existence. The separate articles constituting the stock may continue the property of the appellees for a day, a week, a month, a year, or longer, but until they are sold they remain permanently in Baltimore, and are not moved from place to place.

That is clearly what is meant by “permanently located” — not that the goods and chattels must remain until they are ³⁷² worn out, or indefinitely. The agreed statement of facts shows that the average value of the stock carried by the appellees is $80,000.00, and that they were assessed for that amount. In other words, the appellees keep constantly on hand at their place of business in Baltimore City $80,000.00 worth of goods and chattels in the shape of glass, etc. It may be true that $5,000.00 worth of glass may be sold and shipped away to-day, and another lot of glass worth $5,000.00 may be substituted for it to-day or to-morrow, but the stock of goods and chattels of the value of $80,000.00 is kept on hand — is permanently located- at their place of business. It is not necessary to itemize the stock in trade when it is assessed.

The assessors examine the stock, the goods and chattels, and fix their value for taxation, just as they do the furniture or other tangible personal property at the respective residences of the appellees. If the contention of the appellees is to prevail then merchandise cannot be