Chap. 217.-An ACT to amend and re-enact section 408 of the Tax Code of Vir-
ginia, as heretofore amended, in relation to correction by the State corporation
commission of certain erroneous assessments. fH B 270]

Approved March 23, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
four hundred and eight of the Tax Code of Virginia, as heretofore
amended, 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 provided 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 pay-
ment shall be recovered after a formal adjudication in a proceeding in
which the right of appeal existed and was not taken. Such application
shall be by written petition, in duplicate 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 commis-
sion 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 practicable 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. Otherwise
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 pe-
tition and in the case of the attorney general, the notice, whether by
ordinary mail, registered mail, or service, shall be accompanied 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 m 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 comp-
troller its findings and judgment, and subject to the right of appeal,
by any party at interest, including the Commonwealth, 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
provisions 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 any
action of the commission under this section, irrespective of the amount
involved, 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.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, the State corporation
commission shall have the authority, upon formal or informal appli-
cation, or of its own motion, to correct assessments, or certify to the
comptroller directing refund, in any case in which there has been an
erroneous assessment or erroneous payment involving or resulting
from mere clerical error on the part of the State corporation commis-
sion in making such assessment or other charge, provided such clerical
error has not been induced by misinformation or neglect on the part
of the applicant for correction of assessment or charge or for refund
or erroneous or excessive payment resulting from any such mere
clerical error, and such authority on the part of the State corporation
commission to correct such mere clerical errors on its part and all re-
funds resulting from such mere clerical errors on its part shall not be
subject to the requirements as to the procedure hereinbefore provided
nor to limitation as to time of making application for any such correc-
tion or refund. The authority hereby given to correct mere clerical
errors and to order refunds resulting from mere clerical errors on the
part of the commission shall apply to cases which have already arisen
as well as to such cases as shall arise in the future.

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