Chap. 661.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to require
the payment of fees on certain charters, approved February 10, 1890, as
amended by an act approved February 28, 1890, and further amended and
re-enacted by an act approved January 22, 1994.

Approved March 3, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to require the payment of fees on certain charters,
approved February tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, as amended
and re-enacted by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact sec-
tion one of said act, approved February twenty-sixth, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety, and further amended and re-enacted by an act enti-
tled an act to amend section two of said act, approved January
twenty-second, eighteen hundred and ninety- four, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1. That every charter of incorporation hereafter passed by the
general assembly of Virginia shall be, and continue to be, wholly
inoperative and ineffectual for any and all purposes whatever until
the payment of the fee, to be ascertained and fixed as follows: For
@ company whose maximum stock is five thousand dollars or under,
five dollars; for a company whose capital stock is over five thousand
dollars and not to exceed ten thousand dollars, ten dollars; over ten
thousand dollars and not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars,
fifteen dollars; over twenty-five thousand dollars and not to exceed
fifty thousand dollars, twenty-five dollars; over fifty thousand dol-
lars and not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars, forty dollars ;
over one hundred thousand dollars and not to exceed three hundred
thousand dollars, sixty-five dollars; over three hundred thousand
dollars and not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars, ninety dol-
lars; over five hundred thousand dollars and not to exceed eight
hundred thousand dollars, one hundred and fifteen dollars; over
eight hundred thousand dollars and not to exceed one million dol-
lars, one hundred and fifty dollars; over one million dollars, two
hundred dollars. For the purpose of this act, the amount to which
the company is authorized by the terms of its charter to increase its
capital stock shall be considered its maximum capital stock, but the
fee to be paid under this section shall in no case exceed the sum of
two hundred dollars; provided, however, that building fund asso-
ciations shall pay twenty-five dollars only for each certificate of in-
corporation filed or charter granted; and provided, further, that no
fee shall be required of the companies organized for religious, benevo-
lent, or literary purpose, or such companies as are not organized for
profit and have no capital stock. Mutual insurance companies and
other mutual companies, not organized for strictly benevolent or
charitable purposes, shall pay a fee of twenty-five dollars.

§ 2. Where a charter of incorporation is to be granted under the
provisions of section eleven hundred and forty-five of the code of
Virginia, the clerk of the court in which, or the judge thereof in vaca-
tion, such charter is to be granted, shall collect such fees and receipt for
the same to the party or parties presenting such petition for incor-
poration; and it shall be the duty of such court, or the judge thereof
in vacation, to consider no such petition for incorporation unless the
clerk’s receipt for the proper fee as hereinbefore provided is presented
therewith; and it shall be the duty of the clerk upon the granting
of such charter of incorporation, to record the same and to forthwith
pay into the state treasury such fee, less the amount of five per
centum, which said clerk may retain as compensation for collecting
same; provided, however, in case the court or judge thereof in vaca-
tion denies such petition for incorporation, that the clerk is to re-
fund to the party or parties presenting such petition the fee paid by
them; and provided, further, in case the court or judge thereof in
vacation increases or diminishes the amount of the capital stock of
such company, that the clerk is to collect such additional fee before
recording such charter and do with the same as above directed, or to
refund such over-payment as may previously have been made; and the
fact of such payment, in case the charter is granted under the provis-
ions of section eleven hundred and forty-five of the code of Virginia,
shall be certified by the auditor of public accounts to the secretary of
the commonweath; and where the act of incorporation is to be passed
by the general assembly, such fee shall be paid direct into the state
treasury, and said fee shall be thus paid before the bill providing for
the incorporation shall be referred to the committee of either house
of the general assembly by the clerk of said house, or before any
other action shall be taken on said bill, and such payment shall be
evidenced by the receipt of the state treasurer produced to said clerk ;
and it is further provided that no fee shall be required to be paid on
any amended charter that has been passed during the present session
of the general assembly, or may hereafter be passed, or on any charter
confirming or amending a charter granted by a court or judge thereof
in vacation, unless the maximum amount of the capital stock shall
be increased, in which case the same proportionate charge for such
increase shall be made as hereinbefore provided; but if no fee shall
have been paid on the granting of the original charter, the fee to be
charged when such amended charter is granted shall be the same as
if the amended charter was an original charter, and if any amend-
ment is made to a bill increasing the capital stock of such company,
a tax shall be paid on the amount of the increase as hereinbefore
provided ; and if the general assembly should fail to pass any bill of
incorporation which may be introduced, or any amendment increas-
ing the capital stock of any act of incorporation heretofore granted,
the tax or fees paid as aforesaid shall be returned to the parties who
have paid such tax or fees upon the certificate of the clerk of the
house, if any bill of the character referred to shall fail to pass in the
house, and upon the certificate of the clerk of the senate, if any such
shall fail to pass in the senate.

§ 3. In case of charters granted under the provisions of section
eleven hundred and forty-five of the code of Virginia, or by the gen-
eral assembly of Virginia, and in the case of any company organized
under the laws and jurisdiction beyond this state, and proposing
hereafter to transact business in this state, the secretary of the com-
monwealth shall not record the articles of incorporation, nor shall
the companies have the right to transact business or conduct opera-
tions of any character in this state, until the fact of the payment of
proper fees in each case, as hereinbefore provided, has been certified
to him by the auditor of public accounts.