Boston Manufacturing Co. v. Commonwealth

The excise tax, which the petitioner seeks by this petition to recover, was imposed by virtue of the Pub. Sts. c. 13, § 38. Under the previous acts (Sts. 1864, o. 208, 1865, c. 283, and 1867, c. 52) upon which the section in question is. founded, this excise has repeatedly been held to be a tax upon the franchise of a corporation, and not upon its property, and thus is constitutional. Commonwealth v. Hamilton Manuf. Co. 12 Allen, 298. Commonwealth v. Cary Improvement Co. 98 Mass. 19, 22. Commonwealth v. Berkshire Ins. Co. 98 Mass. 25. Manufacturers' Ins. Co. v. Loud, 99 Mass. 146.

The sections…