Chap. 423.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 408 of chapter 45 of the
acts of 1928 entitled “An act to revise, simplify, arrange and consolidate
into one act the general tax and revenue statutes of the Commonwealth,
which act shall constitute, and be designated and cited as ‘the tax Code of
Virginia,’ approved February 21, 1928. [S B 352]

Approved March 25, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion four hundred and eight of the tax Code of Virginia, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 408. Any person or corporation feeling aggrieved by
reason of any registration fee, franchise tax, charter tax, entrance
fee, license tax, fee, or charge, assessed or imposed by or under
authority of the State corporation commission of Virginia against and
collected from any corporation, domestic or foreign, or any fee paid
under the provisions of the act or acts for the regulation of the sale
of securities, may, unless and except as otherwise specifically pro-
vided by any law heretofore or hereafter enacted, within one year
from the date of the payment of any such license, tax, fee, or charge,
apply to the State corporation commission for a correction of such
assessment and/or charge and/or for a refund, in whole or in part,
of the said license, tax, fee, or charge so assessed, or imposed and
paid; provided that no payment shall be recovered after a formal ad-
judication in a proceeding in which the right of appeal existed and
was not taken. Such application shall be by written petition, in dupli-
cate and verified by affidavit, one copy of which to be delivered
to the attorney general, whose duty shall be to represent the interest
of the Commonwealth before the commission as well as thereafter
in case of appeal, filed with the commission and shall set forth the
names and addresses of every party in interest. As soon as prac-
ticable after the filing of said petition, the commission shall set a
date for the hearing, but at least fifteen days’ notice of such hearing
shall be given by the commission to the petitioner and to every party
in interest, including the attorney general, but such notice to the
petitioner shall be sufficient in the form of an attested copy of the
order fixing such hearing sent by ordinary mail, to the address fur-
nished by the petitioner, or to the attorney of the petitioner, if any,
and to the attorney general, provided, it be certified in the record,
by the clerk of the commission, that such notice was deposited in the
mail at least fifteen days prior to the date set for the hearing. Other-
wise such notice may be served by an officer, or may be served by
registered mail, return receipt requested, and, except in the cases of
the petitioner and of the attorney general, shall be accompanied by a
copy of the petition and in the case of the attorney general, the notice,
whether by ordinary mail, registered mail, or service, shall be accom-
panied by the duplicate copy of the petition, and it shall be the duty
of the petitioner to furnish, with its petition or thereafter, as may be
found necessary, the requisite number of copies of the petition for
the giving of such notices herein required. In determining the issue,
the commission shall sit in its capacity as a court and shall consider
all matters of law and fact involved. If, of the opinion that the
petitioner is entitled to relief, in whole or in part, the commission shall
certify to the comptroller its findings and judgment, and, subject to
the right of appeal, by any party at interest, including the Common-
wealth, and such appeal on the part of the Commonwealth must be
had upon the demand of the State corporation commission and/or of
the comptroller, it shall be the duty of the comptroller to draw his
warrant on the State treasurer in favor of said person or corporation
for the erroneous or excessive amount so certified to have been paid.
No person or corporation shall be entitled to any relief under this
section, unless his or its petition shall have been filed in the manner
prescribed by this section within one year from the date of payment of
the tax, license, fee, or charge complained of; provided, that the pro-
visions of this amendment shall apply to all cases pending before the
State corporation commission on the date that this amendment takes
effect, notwithstanding the absence of jurisdiction prior to the taking
effect of this amendment and at the time that such proceedings were
instituted and notwithstanding that such pending proceedings were
instituted more than one year after the payment of the tax, license,
fee, or charge complained of and refund of which was applied for.
Any person in interest who considers himself aggrieved by anv action
of the commission under this section, irrespective of the amount in-
volved, may present a petition to the supreme court of appeals for
a writ of error and supersedeas in the same manner and on the same
terms prescribed by sections sixty-three hundred and thirty-six, sixty-
three hundred and thirty-seven, and sixty-three hundred and fifty-five
of the Code, as amended. Every sentence, provision, word or part
of this section is hereby declared to be dependent upon the rest of this
section and if any sentence, provision, word or part of this section is
declared invalid by the court of last resort, then this section in its
entirety shall cease to be operative.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its
passage.