People ex rel. Ridgewood Land & Improvement Co. v. Saxe

Headnote

People ex rel. Ridgewood L. & I. Co. v. Saxe, 174 App. Div. 344 affirmed.

Appeal from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the third judicial department, entered September 29,1916, which reversed a determination of the state tax commission refusing to revise a franchise tax against the relator for the year ending

October 31, 1914. The relator was incorporated for the purpose of purchasing, selling, leasing and improving real estate. Having determined to liquidate, the relator disposed of its holdings. At the beginning of the year ending October 31, 1913, the only asset remaining to the company was an overdue mortgage, upon which there remained payable a balance of $231,560, and against this there was an indebtedness of approximately $32,000. By October 31, 1913, the mortgage had been reduced to $191,900, against which there still remained.the said ndebtedness of $32,000. Since 1906 the company has neither owned nor dealt in real estate, nor been engaged in business of any sort, save to hold the mortgage aforesaid, to.collect the proceeds and to distribute the same to the stockholders as fast as collected. The state comptroller held this distribution a dividend and assessed a franchise tax.