Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

.
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
sonorable K. P. Berms, Jr. i
Coun t7 Audi for
K8ll er County
lIempat48dr TeXae
Dear lb. Eepm6l Oplnlou lie. 0-7@38
n
Department
has reqneate
IC of the Board 6t EqualI-
4, euah Board oonridered
durlnr Its nald 1944 meetlnF, proceeded to change such
rend1 tlon sheet by addlnp thereto ‘personal wonarty---
$1 ,on!; .r? ., Frank ZcPnl ras not nCt~ifie1 crf such aept-
InPr and did not anrear thereat. Frank Echo1 firfit he-
came anwised of the acta ni the P.oard of EqualIratlon
chanFllrr the rendjtinn sheet, or, the 3lnt dar of Janu-
ary, 1946 rhetr he rent. to the tax collector t,o nay his
taxes. Re refused to ma? such taxes that dar but nald
their the next dav, February 1, 1945 hv check, unm the
279
Y,-. W. P. Bems, Jr. - Paw 2
free of whfah he wrote, 'paid under pretest’. Frank
lrohol eteter that he dld not oa en7 perwonal property
on January 1, 1944, but that he did hare 8uatoU7 an6
f~ossa~slem oi about fifteen (1s) head of mother eowo
rhlah belonged to him wm crho was a non-realdent. The
v.alw of muah eowa was aumtoaarlly tlxed by tbe Board
of Bquallratlon at @O.OO eaah. Mr. ICehot elalrs that
he made aa over prymeat of $lsd6 tor the rear 1944;
that suoh paywent was lYYe@l?7 demanded Of bir# that
he lmtaluntarll7 paid the mm. and that the County of
Ka llo rB OW o wesh imsa o b lwa a f~
'Mr. Babol also not with the Bear& O? Equaliaatlon
at its 1945 aeetlng, at wbleb mafia& blr pbreonal prep-
arty warn ndu~d ln taluo to @80&O, OII abicb utount
be paid taxes on Jauuary 8lr L*Id. &t that tlw thr
armhers oi the Board af Pquall8atiOn agreed rrrballr
tb8t such sum of @R&V3 vms lflogal1~ lr meued aqrlnrt
him top 1844, and shOuld a?t bare been eolYeatedr but
tbrougb iaaUvsrtanoe or IMglOOt ISOOrder to that li-.
teat was put on the minutes ot moh,Board.
*Y7 quoatiana arlalng trot the above fasts are as
follo~rc
Ma7 the Comisdeners%urt et Kall*r
Ceuat;, Texas, IaWullf lrsccr a Warrant *
the awouat of @lcle.iM to tbe eald %a& Bsbol
in aoadderatlOn tor tha exeeutioa~ br the
ultl #hak Eebol, 0t a raloamc Of all auita
o r la tc sea wb la hh ell.g
o t la tlo n ht
hare
apslnst Wa1.l~ Gun tr based an the alnwo
transratlims?
2.’ It t.he toreiabs quection 1s an&--
ed in the ncpatlrer ma7 the Comdselonsrw
Court sitting au a~ Poerd of Squallratlon
correct. tbe minutea at said Board at thle
time, in such Eanner as to retlaat the act-
ual ocourrence It j ts meetln~ In 1944, and
If lo, aould @ rarrant tken bo issued for
the twrpocms described in questSor I?’
Beth of your questIOns are arnered $3 the nepatfre.
From 7our utatement of the taats, It Indisputably rp
reare that f!r. EchoY, wjth a !'uTl knorladpe of the exact sltua-
tlan, rolmtarlly Talc! the taxes 3~ dlsgxte. ‘Thj s 1a conolualre
: .
Hr. KF. P. Benrs, Jr. - page 3
apalnst his right to raeover the name , and comnequantly lt Is
aonalurlra of the rlpht, of tbs Comfsrl~nars Court to pay him
alsfmt the ssma not belmr a valid antoraeabte dainand lpafnst
the oounty*
It has lon; been the rule that one who, knowInK that
a tax has bean ll?rga??y assessad ltxalnstbfa, toluntarlly pays
the came without any Rind of duress or 1 am? aoeralon, may not
reoaveF It upon the ground of ettohllfeglit~. The taet that
Vr. Echo? paid the tax *under proted does not shange the llt-
uat.jon, elaoe he was la ao wlmo noawed his la tua papant
? was
roYuntar7. flis oase rould stand la a dliterent light lf his
tallure to my mch tax eon18 lega?Yy have beam follorad up by
a wnmary impoadtlon ot a penalty, torfelturer or the Ilko,
agalnat him, lnU be had made tha p&men t to pre+en f ouch pen-
alty or torteltura. fbat aoald bar0 baaa legal dllrbsm,antlt-
Lang bin to reeever the peywtt, whsther mado under erpresa pro-
test or not.
fn Aumt9.n Xatlona'lDank vo @mppard, 71 6* If.(2) QU,
the Swwemo Court ssldc
*(a) A per@n who ro?untsrl?y pays an ll?eg~l
tax hai no slalm tor Its repefment. Qa R.C.T.. p*
465, S 411; City at Boustm v* Foe-r, Pa tex. 555,
13 8. K. 566f Qalrestm City Og* 'I*City ot Qalrar
ton, 56 0.x. 455f Bear, Roott & CO. 10 dlhdnnon, 52
Tex. CIT. App. 554, 115 se Il. Qol (rrit ref.), and
lnthorltfaa eltad on page 354. T h is@ a so ram l?f3r m-
ed by the United states QtaprameCourt, 223 Va. 8. 468,
a2 8. ct. aaa, 55 t. ~5. 510.
‘(I) A person rho mfn an Illem? tax under du-
rosa has a leea? claim fey 3tc repament- * l !!
l(8) hlress In the lxwm0pt of an llle~l tax
say be either exnress or laplied, and the ?e,co? &I ty
te refund fs the saw jn hcth lnntnnccc- 20 PX.i .
p.4R7, z 413.
.(R) Vhen the
statute worldes that the taxnayer
c):? f-al?+ to py the tax shall fortej t his rlxht to dn
bu~!r.e~s In tke stats, 3rd l~are the cclirt.c c1c.133:~,to
hjm, be js not requjred to teYa the rick CT harfrg hi6
rlpht to resort to the courts djsputed and hla husinesc:
jnjured while the lnraYldlt~ of t~he tax Is kei.ns: adjndi-
ca ted . 26 Rawle C. 1. p. 46s.
Ur. e* P. Asrlas, Jr. - 4
In the absence of a specific statute
to the*(lo)sontrary, the iaat that an illen tax im
lr not paid under prote8t Is of no inprtanac.
ia’R.C.L. p. 450 8 414.‘
ths unnm holdiac was made l?r tht3$mpme Court In
IFaClonaI Riroult Co. v. Gtate, .I311 6. 1c. (6) 687, and ntlll
l.gaitj in thlon Central TAfe Ins. Co. T* Mmm, Attorney Ccner-
al, et al, 188 &e ‘1. (B) (IT-
Tbhe altumtian would not be any different if the Board
of Equallratlon should now rescind it8 erronuoun @rtler (if la-
deed It would haTo the power to do so)* That would be mere ~OIW,
and it ooald mot operate to ~l~mlr;e the claim Into 8 legal en-
roroeoblu obllg8tion of the OountY , for 6ha rights of the respac-
tire partlea were fixed at the date of the voluntary payment.
One arnnot do by indjreotion wIrat he oannot lo direotly.
0 t+xB