Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. Thomas
Mississippi Supreme Court
Appeal from the Chancery Court of Hinds County. Hon. Warren Cowan, Chancellor. Under an act of the legislature, approved April 3d, 1888, entitled, “ An Act to provide for the assessment and collection of past due and unpaid taxes on railroads which have escaped the payment of taxes,” an ad valorum tax, for the years 1885,1886 and 1887, had been assessed against the property of every description belonging to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company, and the tax…
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Appeal from the Chancery Court of Hinds County. Hon. Warren Cowan, Chancellor. Under an act of the legislature, approved April 3d, 1888, entitled, “ An Act to provide for the assessment and collection of past due and unpaid taxes on railroads which have escaped the payment of taxes,” an ad valorum tax, for the years 1885,1886 and 1887, had been assessed against the property of every description belonging to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company, and the tax collectors, severally, of the counties of Hinds, Madison, Yazoo, Holmes, Leflore and Grenada were about to proceed with the…
1Opinion of the Court
Arnold, C. J.,
delivered the opinion of the Court. '
Statutes exempting persons or property from taxation, being in derogation of the soverign authority add of common right, are, according to all the authorities, strictly construed. As taxation is the rule and exemption the exception, the intention to create an exemption must be expressed in clear and unambiguous terms; and it cannot be taken to have been intended, when the language of the statute on which it depends' is doubtful or uncertain. Legislation, which relieves any species of property from its due proportion of the burdens of…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad v. DennisSupreme Court of the United States · 1886
- Bailey v. MagwireSupreme Court of the United States · 1875
- Frantz v. DobsonMississippi Supreme Court · 1887
3Cited by3 opinions
- Adams v. Yazoo & Mississippi Valley RailroadMississippi Supreme Court · 1899
- Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad v. AdamsMississippi Supreme Court · 1902
- Edwards Hotel & City Street Railroad v. City of JacksonMississippi Supreme Court · 1910