Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-400

Opinion No. 400 !\fines and Mining - Taxation - Net Procee(ls-lWyalty HELD: Under Chapter 161, Laws of 1933, the net proceeds of the N orth- western Improvement Company and the royalty of the Northern Pacific Hail way Company for the year 1932 must be taxed according to the rate fixed for that year and not according to the ra te fixed for the year 193::\. November 27, 1933 You have asked us whether the tax le\'Y made by the board of county com- missioner;; of Rosebud County for the year 1932 or for the year 1933 should· apply in the case of the net proceeds :ll'sessed to the Northwestern Impro\'e- nwnt Company on account of the oper- a t ion by it of a coal mine during the year 1932 and in the case of royalty assessed to the Northern Pacific Rail- \l'ay Company as a result of such oper- Mion. Eyery person or corporation engaged in mining from any mine containing coal must on or before the first Mon- day in ~Iarch of each year make a statement to the State Board of Equal- ization showing, among other things, the gross yield of such mineral from such mine for the preceding year, the cost of extraction and transportation. and the royalty paid. From the re- OPIXTOX~ OF THE ATTORXEY GEXERAL 281 tnrn made the hoard shall calculate thc net proceeds in dollars alHl cents allll make its assessment accordingly. (Sections 1 and 2, eha pter HH, Laws of 1933.) On or before the 15th day of ~Iay the· State Board of Equalization shall eertify the a"sessment to the county clerk of the county in which the mine i,.; located. The county clerk shall then prepare therefrom a tax roll which must be by him furnished to the county treasurer on or before the 15th day of .Tune following, and thereupon the taxes shall be due and payable. The county treasurer shall proceed to l,ri\"e notice to the opera tor of the tax levied a ntl shall collect the same in the man- n€!" provided by law. The rate of tax- a lion shall be the same as that fixed antl levied against other property in a nd for the year in which the royalty was paid or yielded. (Id., Section 1). }"'inally, it is prodded by section 6 of Chapter 161 that the Act shall go\"- em the assessment and taxation of net: proceeds of mines and mmmg claims yielded in the ~'ear 1932 and thereafter. From the foregoing we think it is entirely clear that the net proceeds of the Northwestern Improyement Com- pany and the royalty of the Northern Pncific Railway Company for the year 1 B:-12 must be taxed according to the rate fixed for that year and not ac- cording to the rate fixed for the year Ill38. The law does not appea~ to justify any other view. Note: See Chapter 188, Laws of ID35. Opinion No, 401 Hanks and Banking-Capital Notes- Capital Debentm'es-Pl'eferred Stocl{ Taxation - Exemption - Recon- stI-uction Finance Corporation Hl'iLD: Preferred stock. capital I,ntes or capital debentures J,ri\'en or i~sl!ed to the Reeonstl'uction 1!'inanee C<.·rporation by sta te and national hanks and held by the Iteconstruction Finance Corporation are exempt from taxation .. Noyember 2V, 1933 You have submitted to this office the following question: Are prefen'ed stOCk, capital notes, or capital dehen- hues purchased through the Recon- struction }'inance Corporation from yarious banks, both National and i'tate, in order to assist these banks to get into condition to enter the Fed- eral Deposit Insurance Corporation on -TllIlUaQ' 1, 1934, taxable in the State of l\Iontana? Section 1999, H. C. :\:L 1921, classi- fies bank stock fOl' the purpose of tax- f1tion. Section 1997, id., proyides that nil property in the state is subject to taxation except as provided in Section 1!)98, which, among other exemptions, cXE:mpts from taxation the property of the United States. Article XII, Sec- tion 2, of the State Constitution con- tains the same exemption. The Reconstruction Finance Corpor- ation Act, enacted ,Tanuar~' 22, 1932, lH"O\'ides that the capital stock of the corporation be subscribed by the Unit- NI States. (Seetion 602 U, S. Codes Ann .. 'l'itle 15). The bOflrd of direct- on: consists of the Seeretary of the 'I'reasUl'Y and six other persons ap- pointed by the President of the United i'tates who must take an oath of of- fj"e faithfully to discharge the dutics of their office, They receive salaries of $10,000 per annum. (Section 603 i(\') '.\.'he corporation shall have suc- ccssion for a period of ten years un- less sooner dissolved by Act of Con- gress. It is entitled to the free use of the United States mails. (Section 604 id.) The purpose of the corporation is to aid in financing agriculture, com- merce and industry, including facil- itl.lting the exportation of agricultural nl!d other products. (Section 605 id.) All moneys of -the corporation not otherwise employed may be deposited with the Treasurer of the United Htates. (Seetion 607 id.) The corpor- ation, including its franchise, its cap- iral, reserves and surplus and its in- C(Jme are e:xempt from all taxation ex· ('lOpt tha t any real estate of the cor- poration shall be taxed where located, a~ other real property. (Section 610 id.) From the foregoing we conclude that the Heconstruction Finance Corpora- tion is a public corporation being an instrument and mealls of the United ~t"I~tes GO\'ernment subject to creation and dissolution at the will of Con- gress, organi7.ed for public purposes allll haYing direct'ors who are officers