Knupper v. Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board

Section 25 of the Revenue Act of 1939 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 120, par. 506) provides that:

“The stock of nurseries, when growing shall be assessed as real estate and when severed shall be listed and assessed as merchandise.”

The statute does not provide that annually planted crops, such as corn or wheat, are to be assessed as real estate, and it has long been established that such crops are regarded as personal property for most purposes. (E.g., Reed v. Johnson (1852), 14 Ill. 257.) The issue in this case is whether the different tax treatment which is thus accorded the stock of nurseries,…