Court of Appeal

Southland Times, Issue 14333, 29 April 1899, Page 3

Court of Appeal

(By Telegraph.) Wellington, April 28. Argument in the Commissioner of Taxes v. the Kauri Timber Co. was commenced this afternoon. This is an action for the recovery of land tax. An orderwasmadein the Supreme Court, Auckland, for argument of questions of law before trial, and by another order these were removed into the Court of Appeal. The case involves the liability of the defendant company to pay land tax on timber rights possessed by it over a very large number of blocks of land under a number of different deeds, the question involved in the case of each deed being whether, under the terms of the deed, the company has an interest in the land amounting to a land tenement, hereditament or chattel interest within the meaning of the interpretation clause in the Land and Income Tax Act, 1891. The claim is for £1452 13a 7d, of which the defendant company has since the commencement of the action paid £826 6s lid into court leaving £626 6s 8d in dispute, being the tax on an interest valued at £38,000. The case is being agrued before the full court, Mr Napier appearing for the plaintiff and Messrs Theo. Cooper and H. Campbell for the defendant company. Mr Napier had only partly opened his case when the court rose. The argument will be resume don Monday.