LAWS 2201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Santa Clara County, California, Equal Protection Clause, Fourteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution
Document Summary
A trade name isn"t a legal entity. Advantages - continuity, lower rate, raise capital. Case : santa clara county v southern pacific railroad1886 ussc p. 40. The state of california taxed fences owned by southern pacific railway company, but. Southern pacific asserted that the state constitution only allowed taxes on "the franchise, roadway roadbed, rails, and rolling stock. " Southern pacific also claimed that state tax board did not properly subtract its outstanding mortgages from the value of its property. Pacific refused to pay taxes on its fences and the difference account for by subtracting outstanding mortgages. Santa clara county brought an action against it in a state court. The county argued that since it could tax the land which situated the fences, it could also tax the additional value of the land added by the fences. Southern pacific had the action moved to a federal district court, which ruled that the state did not have jurisdiction to tax fences.
