Trinity Church v. City of Boston
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract to recover the amount of a tax paid under protest. The case was submitted to the judgment of the Superior Court, and, after judgment for the defendant, to this court, on appeal, on an agreed statement of facts in substance as follows : On and before May 1,1873, the plaintiff, a religious corporation, duly established under the laws of this Commonwealth, owned a lot of land on St. James Avenue, in the city of Boston.
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Contract to recover the amount of a tax paid under protest. The case was submitted to the judgment of the Superior Court, and, after judgment for the defendant, to this court, on appeal, on an agreed statement of facts in substance as follows : On and before May 1,1873, the plaintiff, a religious corporation, duly established under the laws of this Commonwealth, owned a lot of land on St. James Avenue, in the city of Boston. On May 1,1873, the defendant caused certain taxes to be assessed upon the said lot, which taxes, amounting to $2,313.27, were paid, under protest, to the treasurer of the…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
The statutes, by which “houses of religious worship ” “ when owned by a religious society, or held in trust for the use of religious organizations ” are exempted from taxation, have been uniformly assumed or construed to exempt the land upon which such houses are erected. Gen. Sts. e. 11, § 5. St. 1865, c. 206. Lowell Meeting-house v. Lowell, 1 Met. 538. The purpose of the statute is to relieve such organizations from the burden of taxation upon property devoted to public uses. And as the land upon which the building stands is essential to the existence of the structure, it is fairly to be…
2Cases cited2 opinions
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3Cited by17 opinions
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- Boston Society of Redemptorist Fathers v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
- Cassiano v. Ursuline AcademyTexas Supreme Court · 1885
- County of Ramsey v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1885
- Commonwealth v. AtlasMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1923
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