First National Bank v. Louisiana Tax Commission, 289 U.S. 60 (1933)

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First National Bank of Shreveport v. Louisiana Tax Commission

No. 293

Argued January 12, 1933
Decided March 20, 1933
289 U.S. 60

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA

Syllabus

1. Where several suits were consolidated for trial and tried in a state court, appealed to the state supreme court on a single transcript, and there docketed and argued as one case and disposed of by a single written opinion, held a complete consolidation reviewable in this Court by a single appeal, although there was a separate judgment for each suit in the trial court. P. 62.

2. A state law taxing all the property of banks that make loans mainly from money of depositors, but exempting other competing moneyed capital employed in making loans mainly from money supplied otherwise than by deposits, is consistent with the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 63.

3. To avoid a state tax on national bank shares under R.S., § 5219, it is necessary to prove not only that the bank was authorized to engage in, but that, during the tax year, its moneys were actually and in substantial amount employed in, some line of business which was then being carried on also by other and less heavily taxed moneyed capital. So held where there was no reason to suppose that national banks were prevented from competing by the tax discrimination. P. 64.

4. The evidence in this case does not prove that the complaining national banks were engaged in lending money on real estate mortgages, or were in competition with "small loan" companies, so-called Morris Plan and Morgan Plan companies, or automobile finance companies, in the making of small loans and the financing of purchases of automobiles and household goods. P. 65.

175 La. 119, 143 So. 23, 28, affirmed.

Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court of Louisiana which reversed the judgment of the trial court annulling tax assessments on three national banks. The suits were consolidated.