Court Opinion

ID: 9538078
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:30:04.223734+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:28.891526
License: Public Domain

GIBSON, J.
(dissenting). I think the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed. It is obvious to me that the claim is unliquidated and consequently not subject to the provisions of the Intangible Tax Law. Watts v. Elmore, 198 Okla. 141, 176 P. 2d 220.
68 O. S. 1941 §1515, relating to pleadings in suits for collection of intangibles, provides in part “if such intangible property is not subject to such taxes he may so allege, stating the controlling facts upon which is based such allegation.” It occurs to me that the nontaxability of the intangibles need not be alleged totidem verbis, but the requirements of the statute are met where, as here, the allegations of the petition show that the claim upon which suit was brought was unliquidated and, hence, not taxable.
Watts v. Elmore, supra, is in accord with a number of decisions of this court, construing the Intangible Tax Act, and is correct, and I see no reason for overruling it, even in part.
Furthermore, even if the intangible in question were a liquidated claim and therefore subject to taxation, it would not be taxable in the circumstances of this case. It sufficiently appears from the filing date on the petition and from the allegations of the petition that at the time of the commencement of the action the assessment of the intangible was not complete and consequently it was not necessary for the plaintiff to either allege or prove anything relating to the assessment of the intangible for taxation. My views are more fully stated in my dissent filed in Mead v. Hellams, 205 Okla. 174, 236 P. 2d 498.
O’NEAL, J., concurs herein.