Francis H. Leggett & Co. v. County of Los Angeles

FLEMING, J.-

— The issue here is whether the seller or the buyer of certain cannery equipment should bear the burden of the county property tax for the year 1962-1963.

On March 5, 1962, the tax assessment date under Revenue and Taxation Code, section 405, the transfer of the interest in the property from seller Booth to buyer Leggett was still unfinished, to a greater or lesser degree. Section 405 contains catchall language designed to assure that property in the county is assessed to somebody, and, accordingly, directs the assessor to assess taxable property in the county “to the persons…