CHAP. 302.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 460, 486, 496, 511,
520, 548, 568, 564, 603 and 604 of the Code of Virginia as heretofore
amended. (H. B. 556.)

Approved March 18, 1916.

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

Section 460. The clerk of every court of record shall make
out a list of all judgments and decrees for the partition or re-
covery of lands which have been rendered, and of all lands de-
vised by will, which have been recorded in such court within
the year ending on the thirty-first of January next preceding,
which list shall state the date of the decree, the land which is
the subject of the partition, and between whom and in what
proportion it is divided, and the date of the will containing the
devise, when admitted to record, the names of the devisor and
devisee, and the description of the land devised and such clerk
shall deliver said list to the commissioner for his county or cor-
poration on or before the fifteenth day of February in each

r.

Sec. 486. The commissioner of the revenue each year after
completing his original land book and making the three copies
required by law shall, on or before June first, lay the original
book and the copies before the local board of review of his
county or city and the local board of review shall as promptly
as possible proceed to review said books to see if the commis-
sioner has made the transfers required by law; proper addi-
tions for new buildings and improvements to buildings; has
made deductions for buildings destroyed; has followed the valu-
ations fixed by the assessor of lands, except where changed by
order of the local board or the court within the time prescribed
by law; that there has been no duplicate assessments and that
no real estate is omitted which should have been entered on
the books; and that the books are in good clerical order and
properly made out; and if the commissioner has failed to com-
ply with the law in any of these matters the local board of
review shall call upon him to appear before the board and im-
mediately, in their presence, correct the books according to
their directions; and when the commissioner has done this the
chairman of the local board of review shall certify under oath
upon the books that the books have been examined and found
correct (or have been examined and not being found correct
have been corrected). The books shall then be delivered to the
pom fausaManer of the revenue to be disposed of as required

y law.

On each book the commissioner of the revenue shall make
and subscribe an oath to the following effect: “I, A. B., com-
missioner of the revenue, district number .............. for
the covnty, (or corporation) of .............. do swear, that
in making out this book, I have, to the best of mv knowledge
and ability, complied with the laws prescribing the duties of
commissioner of the revenue, and that I have faithfully dis-
charged the duties required of me in making the transfers re-
quired by law in assessing new entries of real estate and im-
provements upon tracts of Jand and lots. and injuries to build-
ings thereon, and have followed the valuations fixed by the
assessor of lands except where changed by order of the local
board of review, or the court; and that I have made no dupli-
cate assessments, and no real estate is omitted which should
have been entered in the books, and have made corrections in
said books as required by law. So help me God. Given under
my hand this ............ day Of ..... 2... ccc cence cen cece
nineteen hundred and ...........
Commissioner.
“Sworn to and subscribed before me, a justice (or other
person authorized to administer oaths) for the county (or cor-
poration) of .......... ccc cece ee eee on the ......... day of
acc c cece eee eee nineteen hundred and ...............”

Section 496. The commissioner, or any one of his duly
qualified deputies, shall, upon his own view, or upon such in-
formation 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 information he can obtain, enter upon the interrogatory
the fair market value of the property, money and income owned
by the taxpayer, and make assessments thereof after the values
have been ascertained and certified to him in the manner pro-
vided for in section four hundred and fifty of the Code of Vir-
ginia. |
Sec. 511. The commissioner of the revenue each year, after
completing his original personal property book and making the
three copies required by law, shall on or before the fifteenth of
September lay the original book and the copies before the local
board of review for the review and certification required by
law. The local board of review shall as promptly as possible
proceed to review said books, its review being confined to such
examination as will satisfy the board the commissioner has
carried out the board’s instructions respecting the assessment
of tangible and intangible personal property, money and in-
comes and that the books are in good clerical order and prop-
erly made out, and if the commissioner has failed to carry out
the directions of the local board of review the board shall call
upon him to appear before it and immediately, in their pres-
ence, to correct the books according to their discretions and
when the commissioner has done this the chairman of the local
board of review shall certify under oath upon the books that
the books have been examined and found correct (or have been
examined and not being found correct have been corrected).
The books shall then be delivered to the commissioner to be
disposed of as required by law.

On each book the commissioner of the revenue shall make
and subscribe an oath to the following effect:

“I, A. B., commissioner of the revenue for the district of
sc cece cece ceees in the county Of ... ce cece eee ee ees (OF
commissioner of revenue in the city of ...............06. );
do swear that in making out this book, I have, to the best of
my knowledge and ability, complied with the laws prescribing
the duties of a commissioner of the revenue; that in every case
the list of each person was rendered on oath or affirmation
and that I have made all corrections directed to be made by
the local board of review.

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

. Commissioner.”

“Sworn to before me, a justice (or other person authorized
to administer oaths) for the county (or corporation) of ......
mace cece cece cs ce ees on the ........ day of ..............
nineteen hundred and ................ ”

Sec. 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 reve-
nue 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 com-
missioner of revenue of a city, the copy or copies shall be de-
livered 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 October of
each year, the commissioner of revenue shall be fined not less
than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars, and the auditor
of public accounts 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 delivery of said books not exceeding
thirty-one days from said first day of October in any year.

Sec. 548. As one of the means of ascertaining the amount
of any license tax the commissioner of the revenue shal] pro-
pound interrogatories, 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 mav pro-
cure. Such interrogatories shall be answered, under oath, and
any appl'cant refusing to answer such interogatories, under
oath, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hun-
dred dollars for each offense.
It shall thereupon be the duty of the commissioner of the
revenue to ascertain and certify to the treasurer of the county
or city upon the application for a license the amount of State
license tax to be paid and when said tax has been paid to the
treasurer of the county or city, which fact shall be stated upon
the application for a license, the commissioner of the revenue
shall issue the license. The license issued a merchant shall be
final unless it is afterwards ascertained, in the manner herein-
after provided, that the purchases reported by the merchant
and upon which the commissioner ascertained the State license
tax should be increased or decreased. For the purpose of as-
certaining the full, complete and correct purchases of a mer-
chant it shall be the duty of the commissioner of the revenue
on the first day of January and the first day of July of each
year after he has made out and returned the license reports
in accordance with the requirements of section five hundred
and fifty-six of the Code of Virginia, to lay before the local board
of review the interrogatories of all merchants which he is re-
quired by this section to procure, together with a list showing
the names and places of business of all merchants in his dis-
trict (including those who have not applied for a license as well
as those who have applied) which list, with respect to mer-
chants who have applied for licenses, shall also show when the
license begins, when the license ends, amount of purchases on
which the State license tax was ascertained, and the amount of
such tax which has been paid to the treasurer of the county or
city, as shown upon the license. It shall thereupon immediately
be the duty of the local board of review, having present the
commissioner or commissioners of the revenue and the exami-
ner of records for the county or city for which the board is
appointed, to review the interrogatories and to make such in-
vestigation and examination of the books, invoices, accounts,
et cetera, of the merchants, or to cause the examiner of records
to make such investigation and examination thereof as is deemed
necessary to ascertain the full, complete and correct purchases
of any merchant, and it is hereby further made the duty of the
examiner of records upon his own account to make such inves-
tigation and examination for that purpose as he may deem
proper; and the local board of review may summon, or the ex-
aminer of records may summon the merchant and any person
whom it, or he, believes, or has reason to believe, can furnish
information relative to the purchases of any merchant and any
merchant or person so summoned failing to appear and give
festimony under oath shall be liable to a fine of not less than
ten dollars and not more than one hundred dollars, and each
lay’s refusal or failure to furnish the information or to testify
shall constitute a separate offense and such fine may be recov-
red by presentment, indictment or information to be prose-
tuted by the attorney for the Commonwealth in the circuit
court of a county or in the corporation or hustings court of a
city, or in a circuit court of a city not having a corporation or
hustings court.

When the full, complete and correct purchases of the mer-
chants have been ascertained in the manner herein provided it
shall be the duty of the local board of review to make a report
upon forms prescribed and furnished by the auditor of public
accounts to the commissicner of the revenue, the county or city
treasurer, and the auditor of public accounts.

The commissioner of the revenue shall notify the merchants
whose purchases have been increased and the commissioner
shall upon the blank form prescribed and furnished by the
auditor of public accounts assess the State license tax prescribed
by law upon such increase of purchases and he shall deliver
the assessment to the county or city treasurer, retaining in
ais office a copy. It shall thereupon be the duty of the merchant
to pay, and the duty of the treasurer to collect, the State license
tax so assessed, the treasurer receipting upon the assessment
for said tax, and he shall deliver the assessment so receipted
to the merchant, which receipted assessment together with the
license already issued the merchant by the commissioner of
the revenue, shall constitute the merchant’s license. A mer-
chant who fails or refuses to pay the State license tax assessed
on increased purchases within fifteen days from the receipt of
the notice required to be furnished him shall pay in addition
to the State license tax a penalty of twenty per centum thereon,
and it shall be the duty of the treasurer to immediately levy
and distrain upon any property of the merchant to collect the
tax and penalty. The commissioner of the revenue within
thirty days after the merchants have been notified of the in-
crease shall file report, upon forms furnished by the auditor
of public accounts, with the auditor of public accounts and with
the clerk of the circuit court of the county if he be the com-
missioner of the revenue for a county or for a district in a
county, or with the clerk of the corporation or hustings court
if he be the commissioner of a city having such a court, or with
the clerk of the circuit court of a city if the city for which he
is commissioner has no corvoration or hustings court, and it
shall be the duty of the auditor of public accounts to charge
the treasurer of the county or city with the license taxes so re-
po .

When the purchases of a merchant are decreased the local
board of review shall deliver or mail a copy of its written order
which order shall show the reason for the board’s decision, the
amount of decrease in purchases and the amount of State license
tax to be refunded, to the merchant and to the auditor of public
accounts and it shall thereupon be the duty of the auditor of
public accounts to refund to the merchant out of any money in
the treasury not otherwise appropriated the amount so ordered
to be refunded when the merchant shall have forwarded to him,
properly indorsed, the order issued the merchant by the board,
unless the auditor of public accounts is of the opinion the local
board of review has erred in its decision in which event he
shall notify the merchant and the board his reasons for the
opinion that the board erred and he shall request the board to
re-hear the matter and if the board refuse to re-hear, or upon
the re-hearing, its decision is adverse to the Commonwealth, he
may direct the attorney for the Commonwealth to appeal the
matter to the circuit court of the county or hustings or corpo-
ration court of a city or to the circuit court of a city which has
no corporation or hustings court and if the court’s decision of
the matter is adverse to the Commonwealth then the auditor of
public accounts may appeal the matter to the supreme court of
appeals.

Sec. 563. The taxes assessed on licenses shall be accounted
for and paid into the treasury by the county and city treasurers
at the end of each month or when called upon by the auditor
of public accounts to make payments thereof. Failure of a
treasurer to comply with the requirements of this law shall
operate a forfeiture of his commission on license taxes.

Sec. 564. A license shall not be construed to exempt from
taxation the tangible property used in the licensed business
nor the profits or income of such business.

Sec. 603. Each treasurer shall commence to receive the
State taxes and county and city levies as soon as he receives
copies of the commissioners’ books, and continue to receive the
same up to and including the first day of December of each
year; and for this purpose each county treasurer shall advertise
for at least ten days at the courthouse and at the voting places
in the magisterial districts, in such manner as may be necessary
to give general publicity thereto, upon what day or days he
will be at some convenient public places in each magisterial
district to receive taxes and levies and shall, at the time speci-
fied, go to the places so designated and remain there one day or
more, at his discretion, for the purpose of receiving the State
taxes and countv levies, and shall receive the same, and so forth.
Any person failing to pay any State taxes or county and city
levies to the treasurer on or before the first day of December
shall incur a penalty thereon of five per centum, which shall be
added to the amount of taxes or levies due from such taxpayer,
which, when collected by the treasurer, shall be accounted for
in his settlements.

It shall be the duty of the treasurer, after the first day of
December to call upon each person chargeable with taxes and
levies who has not paid the same prior to that time, or upon
the agent, if any, of such person resident within the county or
corporation for payment thereof; and upon failure or refusal
of such person or agent to pay the same he shall proceed to
collect them by distress or otherwise; provided, that should it
come to the knowledge of the treasurer that any such person or
persons owing such taxes or levies is moving or contemplates
moving from the county or corporation prior to the first day
of December, he shall have power to collect the same by distress
or otherwise at any time after such said bills shall have come
into his hands; provided, further, that it shall not be necessary
for the treasurer of the county of Henrico to designate or to
go to any place other than the county courthouse in the city of
Richmond in order to receive the taxes and levies to be paid to
such treasurer.

Sec. 604. Each treasurer shall, on the first day of January
of each year, make up a statement of all State taxes collected
by him on or before December first next preceding, verify the
statement by affidavit, and forward it to the auditor of public
accounts within fifteen days. On or before the fifteenth day of
June of each year he shall make his final settlement with the
auditor of public accounts, furnishing a statement of all moneys
collected by him on account of taxes and penalties since his
last settlement with the auditor, and also lists of insolvents and
delinquents at the time and in the mode prescribed in the fol-
lowing section. The auditor of public accounts may call upon
any county or city treasurer, at any time he thinks proper, to
pay into the State treasury any and all money in his hands
belonging to the Commonwealth, and such treasurer shall, with-
in five days from the receipt of such call, make the payment.
If any treasurer fail to make any statement or payment re-
quired by this section, within the time prescribed, he shall for-
feit his commissions; provided, that the treasurer of each of
the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk and Lynchburg
shall render statement of collections on Monday of each week,
and, at the same time pay into the treasury the amount shown
by such statement to be due: and if any treasurer fail at any
time to render the statements and make the payments, such
failure shall be deemed a sufficient cause for his removal from
office under the provisions of section eight hundred and twenty-
one of the Code of Virginia.