Case Name: In the Matter of the Appraisement of Certain Legacies, and the Assessments of Collateral Inheritance Taxes Thereon, Under the Last Will and Testament, and the Codicil Thereto, of JOHN GUY VASSAR, Deceased
Court: New York Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1890-12
Citations: 65 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 378
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of the Appraisement of Certain Legacies, and the Assessments of Collateral Inheritance Taxes Thereon, Under the Last Will and Testament, and the Codicil Thereto, of JOHN GUY VASSAR, Deceased.
Judges: Pratt, J., concurred.
Reporter: Supreme Court Reports (Hun)
Volume: 65
Pages: 378–381

Head Matter:
In the Matter of the Appraisement of Certain Legacies, and the Assessments of Collateral Inheritance Taxes Thereon, Under the Last Will and Testament, and the Codicil Thereto, of JOHN GUY VASSAR, Deceased.
Collateral inheritance tax—exemption therefrom — the legatee must be absolutely and, unqualifiedly exempt from general taxation.
Yassar College was authorized, by chapter 2 of the Laws of 1861, to take, by gift or devise, real "and personal estate, the annual income of which should not exceed $40,000, and, by chapter 39 of the Laws of 1862, the real and personal estate held by the college, to the extent that it was authorized to take the same by the act of 1861, was exempt from taxation.
Under the will of John Guy Vassar a bequest was given to the college.
Held, that such bequest was subject to the collateral inheritance tax provided for by chapter 483 of the Laws of 1885, as amended by ctiapter 713 of the Laws of 1887. (Barnard, P. J., dissenting.)
That, in order to exempt a legatee from the collateral inheritance tax, under the last-mentioned statute, there must be an entire freedom from general taxation.
That as Yassar College, under chapter 89 of the Laws of 1862, was only exempt from general taxation upon the property which it was authorized to take and. hold under the law of 1861, that it did not come within the provision of the collateral inheritance tax laws relating to the exemption of certain legatees from the operation of those laws.
Appeal by Yassar College from an order or déeision made by tbe surrogate of Dutchess county on the 1st day of July, 1890, purporting to affirm the order of said surrogate, made May 13, 1890, which order of May 13, 1890, held and decided that the said college’ was liable to a collateral inheritance tax of five per cent on the legacy given to it under the will of John Guy Yassar, deceased.
Also an appeal by Yassar Brothers’ Hospital from the aforesaid orders of July 1, 1890, and May 13, 1890, assessing a tax upon the legacies bequeathed to Yassar Brothers’ Hospital.'
Also an appeal by Yassar Brothers’ Home for Aged Men, in the city of Poughkeepsie, from the said orders of July 1, 1890, and May 13, 1890, assessing a tax upon the legacies bequeathed to Yassar Brothers’ Home for Aged Men in the city of Poughkeepsie.
Frank Basbrouck, for the executors of John Guy Yassar, deceased.
Cyrus Swan and Robert E. Taylor, for Yassar College, appellant.
Alliso7i Butts, for Yassar Brothers’ Hospital, appellant.
John P. B. Tollman, for Yassar Brothers’ Home for Aged Men, appellant.
Charles F. Tabor, attorney-general, for the People, respondent.
Wilkinson dc Cossum, for the county treasurer of Dutchess county, respondent.

Opinion:
Dykman, J.:
This is an appeal from a portion of the order of the surrogate of Dutchess county assessing a tax upon the legacies bequeathed tO' Yassar College, Yassar Brothers' Hospital and the Yassar Brothers' Home for Aged Men by the last will and testament of John Guy Yassar, deceased.
The legacy, under the same will, to the John Guy Yassar Orphan Asylum was exempted from taxation by the surrogate, and there is no appeal from that portion of the order.
All property which now passes by will, or by the intestate laws •of this State, from any person who died seized or possessed of the same while a resident of this State, to any person or persons, or to any body politic or corporate other than to or for the use of the societies, corporations and institutions now exempted by law from taxation, is subject to a tax of five dollars on every hundred dollars of the value of such property. Such are the provisions of section 1 •of chapter Y13 of the Laws of 188Y, amending chapter -483 of the Laws of 1885.
The statute under consideration is new, but, so far as it has received judicial construction, the tendency has been to hold that the societies, corporations and institutions, exempted from the operation of the act to tax gifts, legacies and collateral inheritances, are those bodies only which enjoy complete immunity from taxation as to all their property.
There must be an entire freedom from general taxation to entitle such institutions to exemption from taxation under this statute, and as none of the appellants are entirely exempt it follows that they are not within the exception to the general operation of the act. Partial relief from taxation is insufficient.
Our conclusion is, that the legacies are subject to the operation of the statute, and the order appealed from should be affirmed, with costs, to be paid from the estate, to the respondent.
Pratt, J., concurred.