Murdochs v Inland Revenue
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 22 November 1904 |
| Date | 22 November 1904 |
| Docket Number | No. 19. |
| Court | Court of Session |
Lord President, Lord Adam, Lord M'Laren, Lord Kinnear.
RevenueInhabited House DutyTwo houses belonging to different owners connected so as to form one dwelling-houseInhabited House Duty Act, 1808 (48 Geo. III. cap. 55), Schedule B, Rule 14.
The Inhabited House Duty Act, 1808, enacts, Schedule B, Rule 14,Where any dwelling-house shall be divided into different tenements, being distinct properties, every such tenement shall be subject to the same duties as if the same was an entire house, which duties shall be paid by the occupiers thereof respectively.
A and B, two adjoining dwelling-houses belonging to different proprietors, were connected by an open doorway on the ground floor. The proprietor of A, and his son, the tenant of B, occupied the two houses thus:The son, who was a physician, occupied the public rooms in B for his practice, one bedroom in B was occupied by himself, and another by a sister. The father and the other members of the family had bedrooms in A. The whole family took their meals in A. The only kitchen used was in A. There was only one servant.
Held that there was such internal communication between these two houses that they could not be regarded as different tenements in the sense of Schedule B, Rule 14, of the Inhabited House Duty Act, 1808; that the two houses formed one dwelling-house in the joint occupation of father and son; and therefore that the father and son were jointly liable to inhabited house duty for the whole premises.
Alexander Murdoch, librarian, Glasgow, and George Bain Murdoch, doctor of medicine, Glasgow, appealed to the Commissioners for the General Purposes of the Income-Tax and Inhabited House Duty Acts for the Lower Ward of the county of Lanark, against an assessment made upon them for inhabited house duty for the year 19023 on 97, the annual value of Nos. 25 and 27 Bank Street, Hillhead, Glasgow, of which they were the occupiers.
The following were the facts as found or admitted:1. (a) No. 25 Bank Street belongs to the appellant Alexander Murdoch and his wife, No. 27 Bank Street belongs to George Bain. In 1900 George Bain and the appellant George Bain Murdoch verbally agreed, the first named to let, and the second named to take, No. 27 Bank Street for 51/2 years from Martinmas 1900, at the yearly rent of 40. The tenancy of the appellant George Bain Murdoch subsisted during the year of assessment. The appellant George Bain Murdoch is a nephew of George Bain and a son of the appellant Alexander Murdoch.
(b) Nos. 25 and 27 Bank Street are dwelling-houses of three storeys each, basement, ground floor, and first floor. When originally built they were two distinct and independent though adjoining dwelling-houses. There is now, and has been for the last three years, internal communication between them by means of a doorway made in the separating wall of the houses. The doorway, which is without a door, is on the ground floor, is 6 feet 6 inches in height and 3 feet in width, and gives access from the lobby of No. 25 to a pantry in No. 27, which is entered by a door from the lobby of No. 27. The houses were separately assessed to inhabited house duty for the years prior to the year 19021903, the Assessor being unaware of the houses having been internally connected by means of the doorway.
(c) The appellant Alexander Murdoch and the members of his family, other than the appellant George Bain Murdoch and a daughter, sleep in No. 25 Bank Street. The appellant George Bain Murdoch and the daughter referred to sleep in...
To continue reading
Request your trial