Columbia Savings Bank v. County of Los Angeles

Action to recover from defendant certain taxes paid under protest, pursuant to the provisions of section 3819 of the Political Code. The plaintiff had judgment, and the defendant appeals upon the judgment-roll, which contains a bill of exceptions setting out the evidence..

About the middle of February, 1899, plaintiff bought United States interest-bearing bonds of the value of $59,206, and afterwards, about April 21, 1899, sold the same at a profit. In due time the plaintiff made and returned to the assessor what purported to be a statement of all the taxable property owned by it on the first Monday of March, 1899, and which included the sum of $9,374 of “solvent credits.” In June, 1899, the city assessor called upon the officers of the bank and was informed of the purchase and sale of said United States bonds, and claiming, .as the result of his investigation, that the bonds were purchased for the purpose of evading taxation of the solvent credits used in their purchase, added to the solvent credits returned in its assessment list $59,210, that being the amount used in the purchase of said bonds, thus, making the total of the solvent credits $68,850, upon which sum the bank paid…