Tax Collector v. J.G. Grant & Sons, Inc.

Not until the tax collector brought an action under G. L. c. 60, § 35, did the taxpayer, J.G. Grant & Sons, Inc. (Grant), raise the defense that the property assessed was exempt from taxation. The major question on appeal is whether the defense of exemption lies as a response to a collector’s action under § 35 or whether the issue of exemption must be raised at *732an earlier stage through the tax abatement process under G. L. c. 59, § 59, or through an action under G. L. c. 60, § 98, to recover a tax paid under written protest. There is a secondary, but threshold, procedural question.

Grant…