48 
TAXATION AND REVENUE SYSTEMS—CONNECTICUT. 
taxpayer fails to make out liis list, the assessors are 
to do it for him, adding 10 per cent to the valuation 
as a penalty. Persons not returning lists may be ex 
amined by the assessors, and for refusal to appear may 
be fined an amount not exceeding $1,000. Nonresi 
dent owners of tangible property which is in any one 
town seven months in the year, are required to file a 
list of such property, but no penalty is attached for 
noncompliance with the act. Taxable property is to 
be assessed at its full and actual market value except 
certain vessels, which are assessed at a valuation 
equal to their net earnings for the year preceding, 
and lands and separate lots, which are to be set in the 
lists at their average present and actual valuation. 
The property of traders and manufacturers, including the average 
amount of goods on hand during the year, is assessed in the town 
in which their business is carried on. Merchants are assessed also 
on accounts receivable. 
Indebtedness of a resident of the state to another resident, not 
secured by mortgage on land in this state, may be deducted from 
the listed property of the debtor if placed in the list of the creditor. 
This deduction must be made by the board of relief, and only in 
case the list was duly given in, and only to the extent of the 
assessed valuation of the property for which the indebtedness was 
contracted. 
The shares of stock in national banks, trust, insurance, invest 
ment, and bridge companies are assessed, as explained above, by the 
state board of equalization and taxed at the rate of 1 per cent on the 
market value. The proceeds of this tax are distributed to the towns 
and by them to the taxing districts, in proportion to the number of 
shares owned in each town or district, the taxes on nonresident 
stock accruing to the town where the bank is located. 
Except for real estate, the property of railroad, express, tele 
graph, and telephone companies, and all the property of savings 
banks and of the savings departments of other banks and trust 
companies are assessed by the state board of equalization and 
taxed for state purposes only. 
Corporations, domestic and foreign, which do not pay taxes to 
the state in lieu of other taxation, are assessed on their property 
as are individuals. Stockholders of a corporation, the whole prop 
erty of which is assessed in its name, are not to be assessed on their 
shares. 
Water power is assessed as incident to the machinery which 
is operated by it. When waterworks are located in other towns 
than where power is used, the land occupied by such plant is 
assessed to the owner at the average assessed valuation of improved 
farming land in said town. 
Mortgages.—Money loaned on interest, secured by a mortgage on 
real estate in the state, with an agreement that the borrower shall 
pay the taxes, is not taxed (on the credit) to the extent of the 
assessed value of the mortgaged land. But the excess of the loan 
is taxed where the lender resides; where there is no agreement for 
the borrower to pay the tax, the credit is assessed only where the 
real estate is situated. Mortgages on real estate in other states are 
taxed as personal property to resident holders. 
c. Equalization.—The board of relief in each town 
hears appeals from the valuations of the assessors and 
equalizes and adjusts the valuations on the assessment 
list of the town; it may increase valuations and assess 
persons and property omitted by the assessors. It 
may also reduce the list and make certain deductions 
for indebtedness where lists have been duly given in. 
An appeal lies from the board of relief to the superior 
court of the county. 
The state board of equalization equalizes between 
the towns to make up the general list of the state. 
2. Rate— 
The amount of taxes to be raised is determined in 
the annual town meeting, and the selectmen of the 
town make out rate bills with the proportion which 
each individual is to pay according to the assessment 
list. When any town neglects to vote the necessary 
taxes, its selectmen may make a rate bill for the same. 
3. Collection— 
Town taxes are payable within one year after they 
are laid and are collected by the town collectors. Col 
lectors may, if necessary, levy on chattels, realty, or 
attach the body of delinquents. The lien on real 
estate attaches from October 1 in the year previous 
to that in which the taxes become due. 
B. POLL TAXES. 
All males between the ages of 21 and 60 years, 
excepting as otherwise specially provided by law, are 
liable to pay a personal tax of $2 for town and state 
taxes in lieu of a poll and commutation tax. This 
tax is due and payable annually on March 1, and 
failure to pay may be punished by imprisonment. 
Persons exempt include: Students in colleges and 
incorporated academies; active members of all fire 
departments; engineers and members of fire depart 
ments, having served five years; honorably discharged 
field and staff officers or any officer, musician, or pri 
vate who has performed military duty during the 
preceding year; honorably discharged members of 
militia who have served five years, and ex soldiers 
or sailors of the United States. Mayors and aider- 
men or selectmen can abate the tax at any time for 
indigent sick or infirm persons. 
C. THE INHERITANCE TAX. 
The towns and cities do not share in the inher 
itance tax. 
D. CORPORATION TAXES. 
The state remits taxes collected on shares of stock in 
state and national banks, and trust, insurance, invest 
ment, and bridge companies to those towns and to 
those cities which are consolidated with the town 
governments in which the owners reside. The state 
also remits taxes on nonresident stock of national 
banks to the town in which the bank is located. (See 
State Revenues, a, d.) 
E. BUSINESS TAXES, LICENSES, AND FEES. 
The following are collected annually: 
Lodging houses, $10; auctioneers, discretionary with town; 
pawnbrokers, $10 to $50; exhibitions, discretionary with town; 
junk shops, $2 to $10; itinerant vendors, local license, $25; mater 
nity hospitals, rate to be determined by town; bicycle side paths, 
50 cents to $1; dogs—for each male or spayed female, $1, and 
25 cents for registration; for each unspayed female, $5, and 25 
cents for registration; kennel license, $25 for 10 dogs, $50 for over