Chap. 147.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 450, 451, 456, 458,
462, 464, 466, 468, 471, 486, 487, 489, 491, 494, 496, 497, 498, 503, 504,
511, 520, 527, 548, 550, 553, 555, 556, 561 and 578 of chapter 24 of the
Code of Virginia, as heretofore amended, and to repeal sections 465,
502, 518, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 521, and 544 of the same chapter
of the Code of Virginia, as heretofore amended, said chapter 24 having
relation to the assessment of taxes on persons and property, licenses
and so forth. (S. B. 93)

Approved March 18, 1915.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
four hundred and fifty, four hundred and fifty-one, four hundred and
fifty-six, four hundred and fifty-eight, four hundred and sixty-two, four
hundred and sixty-four, four hundred and sixty-six, four hundred and
sixty-eight, four hundred and seventy-one, four hundred and eighty-six,
four hundred and eighty-seven, four hundred and eighty-nine, four hun-
dred and ninety-one, four hundred and ninety-four, four hundred and
ninety-six, four hundred and ninety-seven, four hundred and ninety-
eight, five hundred and three, five hundred and four, five hundred and
eleven, five hundred and twenty, five hundred and twenty-seven, five
hundred and forty-eight, five hundred and fifty, five hundred and fifty-
three, five hundred and fifty-five, five hundred and fifty-six, five hundred
and sixty-one and five hundred and seventy-eight of chapter twenty-four
of the Code of Virginia, as heretofore amended, be amended and re-
enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 450. Printed forms of land and property books, interroga-
tories, to be answered under oath by taxpayers and furnished by auditor;
expense thereof to be paid out of the treasury; disobedience of commis-
sioner punished. It shall be the duty of the auditor of public accounts
to prepare and forward to the commissioners of the revenue the requisite
number of printed forms of land and property books and blank forms
of interrogatories upon which the taxpayers shall make reports for assess-
ment of capitation, tangible personal property, intangible personal prop-
erty, incomes and money, and so forth; upon which blank forms there
shall be the form of oath prescribed by law or by the auditor of public
accounts; and in all instances the taxpayer must subscribe or affirm to
said oath, which shall be administered by the commissioner of the revenue
or one of his duly qualified deputies, or by some person authorized to
administer oaths, and it shall be the duty of said commissioner of the
revenue or his duly qualified deputy to carry with him a copy of the
‘Holy Bible or a copy of the New Testament, upon which he shall swear
the taxpayer, and any taxpayer objecting to making oath on the Holy
Bible or New Testament shall be allowed to make affirmation, and the
commissioner of the revenue shall sign a certificate upon the interroga-
tory to the effect that he did administer to the taxpayer the oath or
affirmation required by this section.

The interrogatories herein provided for, with the answers thereto,
shall be laid before the local board of review at the time prescribed by
law, and said board shall make and cause to be made by the examiner
of records such investigation and examination with respect to the matters
herein contained as required by law, or as, in their judgment, may be
essential and proper for a fair value and uniforni assessment of values,
with power to summon persons and require the production of records,
and so forth. .

The auditor of public accounts shall, by letter or printed circular or
otherwise, give such instruction to said commissioners in respect to their
duties as to him shall seem judicious. If any commissioner refuse to
obey the auditor’s instructions, he shall forfeit not less than thirty nor
more than fifty dollars. The expense of such books and circulars shall
be paid out of the treasury.

Section 451. Auditor to report misconduct or incapacity of com-
missioner. The auditor and the local boards of review shall communicate
any instances of the misconduct or neglect of any commissioner or exam-
iner of records, or any evidence of his incapacity, furnished by anything
in his office or otherwise, in a letter to the clerk of the court of the
county or corporation wherein such commissioner was elected, which
letter the clerk shall lay before the court at the first term after it is
received. .

Section 456. What real estate to be taxed; lien for taxes and levies
enforceable in equity ; value of lands fixed by assessors not to be changed,
except, etc. All real estate, except such as is exempted by the following
section, shall be subject to such annual taxation as may be prescribed
by law, and there shall be a lien on such real estate for the payment
of the taxes and levies imposed thereon, hereafter assessed, prior to any
other lien or encumbrance thereon; which lien, in addition to existing
remedies for the collection of taxes and levies, shall be enforceable by
suit in equity; and there shall be a further lien upon the rent of said
real estate, whether the same be in money or in kind, for taxes of the
current year. The value of lands and lots, as ascertained in pursuance
of the provisions of chapter twenty-three, and the ascertained value of
the new grants which may hereafter be entered and assessed, shall not
be changed, except to allow the addition of the value of improvements,
or a total or partial deduction of the value of such improvements, except
so far as the same are directed to be corrected by the local board of
review during the year of a quinquennial assessment of real estate and
in the year immediately following such assessment.

Section 458. Commissioner to show land books to owners or agent,
and swear him as to correctness of entry of his land; to verify entries
and make proper corrections. Each commissioner before making’ out
his land book, shall carry with him the last land book that may be had,
and the entry of lands charged to any person resident, or having an
agent, within his county, district or city, shall be shown to such person,
or his agent, who shall be required to state, on oath, whether the same be
correctly entered; whether any part thereof ought to be transferred to
any other person, and if so, to whom, and the nature of the evidence to
authorize such transfer; also to state whether any other land within the
county, district, or city ought to be charged to such resident or non-
resident, describe the same, as well as any of the lands charged to such
resident or non-resident, which may not be correctly entered. And the
commissioner, upon obtaining such information, shall verify the same
by the records of his county or corporation, and if it be found correct,
he shall change the entries in his land book accordingly. Any such
resident, or agent, failing to comply with such requirement shall forfeit
fifty dollars.

Section 462. Register of land office to furnish the auditor of public
accounts, State advisory board on taxation, the local board of review
for county and city, and commissioners of the revenue abstracts of grants.
An abstract shall be made out by the register of the land office on or
before the fifteenth day of January of each year, or as soon thereafter
as practicable for the auditor of public accounts, the State advisory
board on taxation, the local board of review for each county and city,
and commissioners of the revenue of each county or corporation, of all
grants issued for lands therein from his office within the year ending the
thirty-first day of December next preceding. The register shall transmit
every such abstract, other than that for the auditor, the State advisory
board on taxation and the local board of review for each county and city,
to the commissioner of the revenue for the proper county or corporation ;
and where, in any county, there are more commissioners than one, the
register shall transmit a copy of the abstract for such county to the clerk
of the circuit court for each commissioner therein. The same shall be
directed to the proper courthouse and mailed within one month after
the expiration of the said year; and the register shall pay the postage
and receive credit therefor in his settlement with the auditor.

Section 464. Form of land book. The auditor of public accounts
shall prescribe the form of the land book to be used by the commissioner
of the revenue, and the auditor of public accounts shall furnish each
commissioner of the revenue with four copies of blank land books pre-
pared in the form prescribed by him.

The auditor of public accounts shall so arrange the land books that
real estate owned by white persons shall be assessed with taxes and levies
in one part of the book, and the real estate owned by colored persons
shall be assessed with taxes and levies in another part of the book.

Tracts of land in counties shall be entered by magisterial or school
districts, and town lots shall be entered upon sheets provided in the land
book for that purpose.

The land book on which taxes and levies are to be assessed on city
lots shall be prepared so that lots owned by white persons and lots owned
by colored persons will be assessed separately.

The commissioner of the revenue shall, in making out the original
land book and the three copies thereof, follow strictly the form pre-
scribed by the auditor of public accounts, unless authorized by that
officer to make changes therein.

Section 466. What the table of town or city lots to contain. In the
table of town or city lots he shall enter separately each lot, and shall set
forth in as many separate columns as may be necessary the name of the
person, his residence and estate, as in the table of tracts of land. The
commissioner shall set forth in other columns the number of each lot
in the town or city, with the name of the town or city, if not previously
placed in the caption or heading of the table, a description where the
person does not own the whole lot, of the part which he owns, the value
of the buildings on the lot, the value of the lot, including buildings,
the amount of tax at the legal rate, and like notice of the source of title
and explanation of alteration as in the table of tracts of land; provided,
however, that the commissioner of revenue of Pulaski county, when
assessing or listing for taxation the town lots in the town of Pulaski,
in said county, shall in addition set forth in other columns the number
of each lot in the town and the number of the section or block in which
it is located.

Section 468. Commissioner to enter lands appearing on register’s
abstracts and assess their value. He shall enter in the said books and
assess the fair market value of all lands in his county, district or city
appearing by the register’s abstract to have been granted. If he fail to
enter any grant (mentioned in the register’s abstract) on the first land
book made out after the abstract shall have been received by him, he
shall for such failure forfeit twenty dollars to the Commonwealth, and
a like sum to the grantee, which shall be recoverable in a separate pro-
ceeding.

Section 471. How land divided among several owners to be assessed ;
how assessment corrected if owner dissatisfied. When a tract or lot
becomes the property of different owners in several parcels, the value at
which the whole had been assessed shall be divided by the commissioner
among the several parcels, having regard to the value of each parcel
compared with that of the whole tract or lot, and the tax upon the whole
shall be apportioned accordingly among the owners of the different
parcels. If any person interested shall be dissatisfied with such appor-
tionment he may apply to the commissioner to make a re-assessment,
and the commissioner shall make the same according to the best of his
skill and judgment. Any person feeling himself aggrieved by any such
re-assessment may apply to the local board of review to review the
commissioner’s decision, which board may affirm the same or order it
to be corrected.

Ten days’ notice in writing shall be given to the parties in interest,
or to such of them as may be in the county or corporation, before the
commissioner shall proceed to make such re-assessment, or before such
application shall be made to the local board of review. But from the
decision of such local board of review an appeal shall lie to the circuit
court of the county or to the corporation or hustings court of the city,
or the circuit court of the city having no corporation or hustings court.

Section 486. The commissioner to make three copies of land book;
his oath and certificate of local board of review. The commissioner each
year after completing his original land book shall lay the same before
the local board of review of his county or city, and when the said book
has been received or corrected by said local board in the manner pre-
scribed by law, the chairman of said local board of review shall certify
thereon under oath that the same has been examined or corrected by
said board as prescribed by law. And thereupon the commissioner shall
make three copies thereof.

At the foot of each copy he shall make and subscribe an oath to the
following effect: “I, A. B., commissioner of the revenue, district num-
ber ............ for the county (or corporation) of ...............
do swear, that in making out the original book, of which the foregoing
is a correct copy, I have, to the best of my knowledge and ability, pur-
sued the laws prescribing the duties of commissioner of the revenue,
and that I have faithfully discharged the duties required of me in assess-
ing new entries of and improvements upon tracts of land and lots, and
injuries to buildings thereon, and have made corrections in said book as
required by law.. So help me God. Given under my hand this......
day of ...... cece eee wees nineteen hundred and ..............

(“A. B. Commissioner. )”

Sworn to and subscribed before me, a justicé (or other person auth-
orized to administer oaths) for the county (or corporation) of.......
TTT T rrr , on the ...... day of ............ nineteen hundred and

Section 487. Personal property book, form of and what to be en-
tered therein. The auditor of public accounts shall prescribe the form
of the personal property book to be used by the commissioner of the
revenue, and the auditor of public accounts shall furnish each com-
missioner of the revenue with four copies of blank personal property
books prepared in the form prescribed by him.

The auditor of public accounts shall so arrange the personal prop-
erty book that personal property owned by white persons shall be as-
sessed with taxes and levies in one part of the book, and personal prop-
erty owned by colored persons shall be assessed with taxes and levies
in another part of the book.

The commissioner of the revenue shall, in making out the original
personal property book and the three copies thereof, follow strictly the
form prescribed by the auditor of public accounts, unless authorized by
that officer to make changes therein.

Upon the personal property book shall be entered the name of each
male person, twenty-one years of age or over, not pensioned by this
State for military services, and a State poll tax of one dollar and fifty
cents shall be assessed thereon against each such male person; all taxable
tangible and intangible personal property, all taxable money, all taxable
income which the law required the commissioner of the revenue of each
district, county or city to assess. There shall also be entered on the per-
sonal property book State taxes and local levies imposed by law on tangi-
ble and intangible pers@nal property, money and income. Any property
not assessable on the personal property book with State taxes, because
the State has provided otherwise for its assessment, shall not be entered
on the personal property book, notwithstanding localities have the right
to assess any such property with local levies.

Section 489. Construction of the revenue laws. In the construction
of the laws for the assessment and collection of taxes, the rules of con-
struction prescribed in chapter two of the Code of Virginia shall be
observed, unless such construction would be inconsistent with the mani-
fest intent of the legislature ; and, in addition to the rules of construction
therein prescribed, the word “money” shall be construed to mean bullion,
gold, silver and copper and other coins, and all notes made currency by
the laws of the. United States government ; also a deposit or deposits
with any bank or other corporation, or firm, or person, or in the pos-
session or under the conirol of the owner, whether such money be actually
in or out of this State and belonging to a citizen of this State. The
word “credits” shall be construed to mean all solvent debts, claims or
demands owing or coming to any person, whether the evidence of such
debts, claims or demands, be in writing or not, and shall be construed
to embrace all moneys and credits constituting capital employed in busi-
ness in or out of this State by himself, his agent, or other person for
him, to his credit with a bank, firm or person.

The word “capital’’: shall be construed to mean moneys and credits
actively used and employed in carrying on any trade or business; ma-
terials, goods, wares and merchandise on hand, and all solvent bonds,
demands or claims made or contracted in the course of business during
the preceding year (but not including any moneys on hand received
from loans made for a period of not more than four months, which shall
be owing and shall have been actually contracted for the necessary con-
duct of such business) shall be held to be capital in such trade or busi-
ness, and shall not be taxed otherwise than as capital; but real estate
shall not be listed as such capital, but shall be assessed and taxed as real
estate.

Section 491. What persons and property to be listed for taxation ;
how beginners in business assessed ; taxpayers to give in lists and make
oaths thereto; how assessment made when a person refuses to furnish
lists. The commissioner shall ascertain and assess all the personal prop-
erty not exempt from taxation, and all subjects of taxation in his county,
district or city on the said first day of February in each year, except
as otherwise provided by law, and also all male persons of full age and
of sound mind residing therein, except those pensioned by this State for
military service; and herein shall be included all persons and property
removed from one county, district or city to another between the first
day of February and the day on which the commissioner may deliver his
books to the office charged with the collection of taxes; but persons or
property assessed in one county, district or city shall not be assessed
in any other for that year; provided, that any person beginning any trade
or business after the first day of February of any year shall be assessed
from the date of beginning upon the capital used or intended to be used
by him in carrying on such trade or business, the same to be ascertained
az hereinafter provided, and the tax thereon shall bear such proportion
to the whole annual tax as the space of time between the assess-
ment of the same and the first day of February bears to a full year;
provided, further, that the money invested in said business shall not be
twice taxed as capital for the same year in the same county or city.
It shall be his duty to call on every person in his county, district or city
to furnish a list of such property, money, credits or other subjects of
taxation as required by law, and the value thereof. Upon neglect or
refusal to give such list, the commissioner, in order to obtain the same,
may apply to any officer of this State, or to any officer or agent or a
company or firm, or to any person having knowledge thereof or interested
therein, to furnish any information such person may have relating there-
to. It shall be the duty of the commissioner, in all cases, to administer
an oath to any such person to make true answers to such questions as
he may ask in relation to any. matter about which he is authorized to
inquire; and if the same be the person assessed with taxes on the prop-
erty, the oath shall be as prescribed in section four hundred and ninety
four. A commissioner failing to administer the oath required shall for-
feit fifty dollars.

Section 494. Commissioners to apply to taxpayers to answer inter-
rogatories ; oaths thereto. The commissioner, or his duly qualified deputy,
shall, on personal application to each person, firm or corporation, resid-
ing, doing business or having an office in his district, obtain answers to
interrogatories prepared by the auditor of public accounts respecting
tangible and intangible property, money or income, and the auditor of
public accounts is authorized to prepare separate forms of interrogatories
with respect to each of these subjects of taxation, if, in his judgment, he
think proper so to do, and it shall be the duty of each person, firm or
corporation to make, under oath, true, full, perfect and correct answers
to each and all of said interrogatories, and the oath upon each of said
interrogatories shall be in the form prescribed by the auditor of public
accounts, or as provided by law.

And, if necessary, in order to obtain such answers, the commissioner
of the revenue, or his duly qualified deputy, shall apply in person at
least once to such person, firm or corporation, and if such answers are
not obtained it shall thereafter be the duty of the taxpayer to seek the
commissioner, and, upon failure to render such answers for a period of
thirty days, the commissioner, or his duly qualified deputy, shall, upon
the best information obtainable, assess the fair market value upon all
the property, money and income of each and every taxpayer who has
failed to answer the interrogatories.

The oath shall be taken before the commissioner of the revenue or his
duly qualified deputy, or some other person authorized to administer
oaths, and it shall be signed by the taxpayer, or by his duly authorized
agent, and where a person answers the interrogatories as such agent, he
shall make and sign the oath as if he were acting for himself.

In case of a firm, the oath shall be taken and interrogatories answered
by some one or more members of the firm, and in case of a corporation,
the oath shall be taken and interrogatories answered by some officer or
agent of the corporation. The interrogatories shall be, by the com-
missioner, or one of his duly qualified deputies, laid before the local
board of review for examination, investigation, review and correction,
as provided by law.
Section 496. Commissioner to assess valuation of property, income
and money. The commissioner, or any one of his duly qualified deputies,
shall, upon his own view, or upon such information as he may obtain or
possess, assess the fair market value of all property, money and income
shown by the answers to the interrogatories to be owned by the taxpayer,
and in the event the taxpayer has not answered the interrogatory, the
commissioner, or his duly qualified deputy, shall, from the best infor-
mation he can obtain, assess the fair market value of the property, money
and income owned by the taxpayer. If any person consider himself
aggrieved by the valuation of the commissioner, or any of his duly
qualified deputies, such person may appeal or apply to the local board
of review to have the said valuation reviewed and corrected, as provided
by law.

Section 497. Penalty of taxpayer for refusing to answer interroga-
tories and swear thereto. If any person subject to taxation on personal
property, money or income, and who is required to furnish answers to
interrogatories, fail or refuse, upon application, to make such answers
and to take an oath to the truth and fairness thereof, he shall forfeit
not less than thirty nor more than one thousand dollars for each failure.

Section 498. Taxpayer fined if he refuses to exhibit property ; com-
missioner, if he takes answers not sworn to. If any person refuse to
exhibit to the commissioner or to his duly qualified deputies any prop-
erty mentioned in the answers to the interrogatories or required by this
chapter to be taxed in order that a fair market valuation thereof may be
assessed, he shall pay a fine of not less than twenty nor more than one
hundred dollars. No commissioner or any one of his deputies shall re-
ceive any answers as a sufficient return of personal property unless the
same be sworn to according to law, under a penalty of five hundred
dollars.

And upon complaint to the judge of the circuit court of a county
or corporation or hustings court of a city, or if there be no corporation
or hustings court, then to the judge of the circuit court of the city,
supported by the sworn affidavit of two or more reputable taxpayers, or
upon complaint in writing by the local board of review, should it appear
to the satisfaction of the court that the commissioner of the revenue of
such county or corporation, or any of his deputies, has not complied
with the requirements of this and the four preceding sections of this
act, or any of them, the judge shall forthwith remove such delinquent
commissioner or deputy, and appoint his successor. —

Section 503. Proceedings against such person rendering false lists.
If any person knowingly render a false list of personal property, choses
in action, moneys, credits, capital, income, salary, or other subject of
taxation, and swear to such list, it shall be the duty of the attorney for
the Commonwealth, upon his own knowledge, or upon information fur-
nished him by any revenue officer of the State, or by any local board of
review, examiner of records, or other person under oath, to file a
petition in the circuit court of the county or corporation court of the
city wherein the list was taken, setting forth the total or partial omissions
in his list of subjects of taxation, or the false values annexed to any of
said subjects, and asking the court to summon the person or persons
giving the list to answer the petition. Upon the summons being duly
executed, the court shall impanel a jury to try the allegations of the
petition ; and if a verdict be rendered establishing a false list, the court
shall render judgment against the accused for double the amount of taxes
imposed upon the property so omitted, together with the costs of the
proceedings, including a fee of five dollars to the Commonwealth’s at-
torney ; and the court shall, moreover, direct the treasurer of the county
or city, upon ten days’ notice, to sell for cash the said property, or so
much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the judgment aforesaid, with
a commission to said treasurer of five per centum upon the amount there-
of ; and it shall be the duty of said treasurer to make report of the sale
to the court, and within twenty days from such sale to pay the taxes so
collected into the treasury of the State and to pay the costs to the
persons respectively entitled thereto; and any Commonwealth’s attorney
failing to perform the duties required of him by this section shall be
fined not exceeding one hundred dollars. The clerk shall transmit a
copy of the report to the auditor of public accounts, who shall charge the
treasurer with the amount shown thereby to be due the Commonwealth.

Section 504. Personal property book; form, etc. The auditor of
public accounts shall prescribe the form of the personal property books
to be used by the commissioners of the revenue; and the auditor of public
accounts shall furnish each commissioner of the revenue with such books
as he may deem necessary in the form so prescribed by him.

The auditor of public accounts shall so arrange the personal property
books that personal property, money and income owned by or assessed
to white persons shall be entered in one part of the book, or in a separate
book, and that of colored persons in another part of such book, or in a
separate book.

Said books shall be in the form prescribed by the auditor of public
accounts, and so arranged that the commissioner may set forth in as
many separate columns as may be necessary to show the persons charge-
able with taxes, alphabetically arranged, with reference to the first letters
of each name, giving in full the first given name of each taxpayer; and
where there are two or more persons of the same family name, he shall
use some distinguishing sign by which the taxpayer may be identified,
the several subjects of taxation, and the value of each; and in a separate
column opposite to the name of the persons chargeable with taxes, as
aforesaid, show the aggregate amount of taxes on all subjects with which
he has been listed. The taxable subjects shall be classified by schedule
or otherwise, as the genera] assembly may from time to time prescribe
in the acts imposing taxes for public purposes. Any commissioner
failing to comply with this section shall forfeit one hundred dollars.

Section 511. The commissioner to make three copies of personal
property book; his oath and certificate of local board of review. The
commissioner each year, after completing his original personal property
book, shall lay the same before the local board of review of his county
or city, and when the said book has been reviewed or corrected by said
local board in the manner prescribed by law, the chairman of said local
board of review shall certify thereon under oath that the same has been
examined or corrected by said board as provided by law. And thereupon
the commissioner shall make three copies thereof.

At the foot of each copy he shall make and subscribe an oath to the
following effect:

“I, A. B., commissioner of the revenue for the district of .........
see eeeee , In the county of ........... se eee eee eee eee (OF Com-
missioner of revenue in the city of.........:.....0.008. ) do swear
that in making out the original book, of which the foregoing is a correct
copy, I have, to the best of my knowledge and ability, pursued the laws
prescribing the duties of a commissioner of the revenue ; that in every
case the list of each person was rendered on oath, except those noted
by me as having failed or refused to take an oath or affirmation.

“Given under my hand this........... day of ............ idass
nineteen hundred and ..... pewesne

(A. B., Commissioner) .”

Sworn to before me, a justice (or other person authorized to ad-

minister oaths) for the county (or corporation) of ............ on
the ............ day Of ...... cc ee eee eee ee , nineteen hundred
a

Section 520. Commissioner of the revenue, how to dispose of copies
of land and personal property books. The commissioner of the revenue
shall retain in his office the original land book and the original personal
property book, and he shall dispose of the copies of the original books
in the following manner.

One copy of the land book and one copy of the personal property book
or books, if he be the commissioner of the revenue of a county or a
district in a county, shall be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of
said county; if he be the commissioner of revenue of a city, the copy
or copies shall be delivered to the clerk of the corporation or hustings
court of said city, but if said city has no such court then the copy shall
be delivered to the clerk of the circuit court of’ said city. One copy of
the land book and one copy of the personal property book or books shall
be delivered to the treasurer of the county, if he be the commissioner
of a county or a district in a county, and if he be the commissioner of
revenue for a city, said copy or copies shall be delivered to the treasurer
of said city; the other copy of the land book and personal property book
or books, the commissioner of the revenue shall forward to the auditor
of public accounts. For failure to deliver said copies in the manner
herein provided by the first day of August of each year, except the year
nineteen hundred and fifteen, for which year the copies may be delivered
at such time as the auditor of public accounts may authorize them to
be delivered, the commissioner of revenue shall be fined not less than
fifty nor more than two hundred dollars, and the auditor of public ac-
counts shall not pay him any compensation which may be due him,
payable out of the State treasury, for making out said books, but the
auditor of public accounts may, for good cause, extend the time of de-
livery of said books not exceeding thirty days from said first day of
August in any year. ,
Section 527. Expense of express and postage by commissioner of
the revenue or clerk of court, how paid. The auditor of public accounts
shall pay each commissioner of the revenue all expense for postage or
express charges incurred by him in sending reports and the land and
personal property books to the auditor of public accounts, and postage on
correspondence with the auditor of public accounts touching the duties
of his office, upon a sworn and itemized statement, out of any money
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

The auditor of public accounts shall pay the clerk of each court of
record all postage charges incurred in mailing reports, papers, etc., to
the auditor of public accounts and on correspondence with the auditor
of public accounts touching the duties of his office, upon a sworn and
itemized statement, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise
appropriated.

Section 548. Commissioner shall propound interrogatories on oath to
applicant for license. As one of the means of ascertaining the amount
of any license tax the commissioner of the revenue shall propound in-
terrogatories, in the form prescribed and furnished the commissioner of
the revenue by the auditor of public accounts, to each applicant and use
such other evidence as he may procure. Such interrogatories shall be
answered, under oath, and any applicant refusing to answer such inter-
rogatories, under oath, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than
one hundred dollars for each offense. The interrogatories of merchants
which the law requires to be furnished shall, together with the list of the
the merchants doing business in the district of each commissioner of the
revenue, be submitted to and be examined by the local board of review
of each county and city before the license tax is assessed thereon. But
nothing herein shall prevent any person, firm or corporation from en-
gaging in any business or employment for which a license is required
by law pending the examination required to be made by said local board
of review, provided said person, firm or corporation shall deposit with
the treasurer of the county or city the amount ascertained by the com-
missioner of the revenue, which amount shall be so deposited before such
person, firm or corporation shall engage in any such business or em-
ployment.

And in the event the said local board of review, after such examination,
shall determine that the amount of such license as ascertained by the
said commissioner exceeds the amount required by law, and shall reduce
the same, then the difference shall be refunded to the applicant for such
license by the said treasurer out of the amount so deposited upon the
written order of said local board of review, and thereupon the license
be issued by the commissioner to said applicant. And in the event the
said local board, after such examination, shall determine that the amount
of such license as ascertained by the said commissioner is less than the
amount required by law and shall increase the same accordingly, then
the license shall be assessed by the commissioner as ascertained by said
local board, and until the additional amount so ascertained is paid to
the treasurer by said applicant no license shall be issued.

Section 550. To the members of what firms a separate license
granted; persons engaged in more than one business to pay tax on each.
A separate license shall be granted to each member of a firm or company
of attorneys at law, and dentists, and where the tax is estimated on the
income from the professional business of a firm or company, if any part
thereof is exempt from taxation, the exemption in favor of such firm or
company shall apply to each member thereof. Where any incorporated
company or person is engaged in more than one business which is made
by the provisions of this chapter subject to taxation, such incorporated
company or person shall pay the tax provided by law on each branch of
the business.

Section 553. May deduct from pay of commissioner for assessing
less than legal tax. If a commissioner, in his list of licenses to be fur-
nished the auditor of public accounts, charge or extend in any case a
tax less than the law requires, the said auditor shall deduct the amount
omitted to be charged or extended from the compensation of such com-
missioner.

Section 555. Commissioner to attend terms of circuit courts next
preceding first day of May, and March and April terms of corporation
courts, to issue licenses ; when licenses expire. The commissioner of every
county or district shall attend at the courthouse and remain during the
first three days of the term of the circuit court of the county next pre-
ceding the first day of May; and commissioners in cities shall attend the
sessions of the corporation courts in March and April to issue certifi-
cates of license in pursuance of the provisions of this chapter. All
licenses shall expire on the thirtieth day of April, except licenses to
theatres, public shows, exhibitions or other performances, and to bowling
alleys and to billiard and bagatelle tables at watering places. Licenses
to keepers of bowling alleys, billiard tables or pool tables at watering
places may terminate on the thirtieth day of April or at the end of four
months, whichever may happen first. If granted for four months or
less the tax thereon shall be fifty per centum of the annual tax. Licenses
to theatres and panoramas shall be for one week or less. Licenses to
public shows, exhibitions or other performances shall be for twenty-four
hours, unless the same be concluded in less time, and if so concluded
the license shall cease. It shall be held to have expired whenever addi-
tional pay is exacted to return to the exhibition or performance in lieu
of a check authorizing the holder to return without compensation. In
those cases wherein the circuit or corporation courts are required to give
a certificate as a prerequisite to obtaining a license, or to give validity
to a license, such certificate may be given at the March or April court
next preceding the first day of May on which such license is to take
effect. Where such license is not for the period of one year such court
may, at the time, or before granting a license, give such certificate. If
any license be granted for less than a year, the tax thereon shall bear
such proportion to the whole annual tax as the space of time between
granting the same and the thirtieth of April bears to the whole year,
unless otherwise provided.

Section 556. When commissioners to return lists of licenses to
auditor and clerks; what list to contain; auditor to furnish forms. Every
six months, to-wit, the first day of July and the thirty-first of December
of each year, the commissioner shall return, on oath, to the auditor of
public accounts, and to the clerk of the court of the county or corporation
a fair classified list of all licenses granted by him within the last pre-
ceding six months, embracing all such licenses as were not contained
in any preceding report; and if no licenses were issued he shall report
the fact, on oath, at the time aforesaid. In each class of licenses the
names of the persons licensed shall also be arranged alphabetically, and
such list shall specify the date of each license and the period for which
said license is granted, for what it was granted, the name of the person,
firm or company to whom granted, the amount of tax on the license, to
whom paid, and, if paid to the deputy of any county or city treasurer,
shall state also the name of his principal, and shall also show the data
in which his calculations of the tax was made. It shall be the duty of
the auditor of public accounts to furnish to each commissioner printed
forms and oaths for authenicating such lists or reports as above indicated,
and the commissioner shall make report according to such forms. Any
commissioner failing to make such report at the time specified shall
forfeit not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars,
and unless a reasonable excuse is given, shall forfeit all compensation
to be received from the treasury.

Section 561. License may be altered when place of business changed.
When a person has obtained a license to carry on any business, employ-
ment or profession at any definite place in the commissioner’s district
or city, and desires to remove to any other place in the same county or
city where his license was granted, and wishes his license altered accord-
ingly. the commissioner who originally issued the license shall make
such alteration, and shall notify the commissioner of the district into
which the licensee may remove, of such alteration, except that when the
license is for the sale of ardent spirits, such license shall only be changed
by the court which granted the certificate.

Section 78. Grand juries to examine books of assessment; fraudu-
lent returng; when and how books corrected; when offender prosecuted ;
punishments. It shall be the duty of the judges of «ne circuit and
corporation courts, at the term next succeeding the return by the com-
missioners of their several books of assessments, if they shall deem if
advisable, to charge the grand juries empaneled by them to examine said
books of assessment, and whenever the grand juries shall think that
there is probable cause to believe that any person has made a false or
fraudulent return of his taxable property to the commissioner, they shall
thereupon summon the person suspected of making such a false or fraudu-
lent return, to give such explanation as he may desire, and if, on full
examination and interrogation of said person, or the examination of
such witnesses as they may chogse to summon, they shall believe that
such false return was made by him through ignorance or mistake,
and with no fraudulent purpose, he may be allowed to correct the same
on said books, which correction shall be certified by the commissioner
to the auditor of public accounts; but if they believe that said false
return was made with a fraudulent purpose to evade the revenue laws,
they shall proceed to find an indictment against him, and if on a trial
of the same the defendant be found guilty he shall be fined in a sum
equal to double the amount of the taxes with which he is properly charge-
able, and be confined in jail at the discretion of the jury.

2. That sections four hundred and sixty-five, five hundred and two,
five hundred and thirteen, five hundred and fourteen, five hundred and
fifteen, five hundred and sixteen, five hundred and seventeen, five hun-
dred and eighteen, five hundred and nineteen, five hundred and twenty-
one, and five hundred and forty-four of chapter twenty-four of the Code
of Virginia, as heretofore amended, be and the same are hereby repealed.

3. The assessment and collection of taxes on property, persons and
licenses for the current year being affected, an emergency is declared to
exist, and this act shall be in force from its passage.