Taxation of rolling stock and other personal property of railroad companies doing business in state; method of assessment.

A railroad company operating a railroad lying wholly within this state or lying partly in this state and partly in another state shall be taxed as to the rolling stock of the company and other personal property appurtenant to the rolling stock, which is not permanently located in any of the states through which the railroad passes, on as much of the whole value of the rolling stock and personal property as the length of the railroad in this state bears to the whole length of the railroad, without regard to the location of the head office of the railroad company. History. Ga. L. 1882-83, p. 42, § 1; Civil Code 1895, § 779; Civil Code 1910, § 1031; Code 1933, § 92-2601; Code 1933, § 91A-2210, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1737, § 2. JUDICIAL DECISIONS What property of interstate railroad taxable. — When taxpayer is an interstate railroad, the comptroller general (now commissioner) is without authority to levy an assessment against the railroad, if the railroad is liable at all, upon the value of the entire property of the railroad both within and outside the state. Harrison v. Georgia, F. & A.R.R., 174 Ga. 549, 163 S.E. 200, 1932 Ga. LEXIS 86 (1932). Valuation of railroad. — In an action in which a railroad filed suit under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 against the Georgia Board of Equalization, and the board’s individual members, including the Georgia Commissioner of Revenue, challenging the assessment of the fair market value, under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-6, of the railroad’s taxable railroad operating property in Georgia, and the board’s acceptance of the assessment under O.C.G.A. § 48-2-18(c), because in Georgia, O.C.G.A. § 48-5-3 defined taxable property as all real property, including but not limited to leaseholds, interests less than fee, and all personal property, and O.C.G.A. § 48-5-520 also provided that a railroad’s rolling stock and other personal property appurtenant to the rolling stock was to be taxed on as much as the whole value of the rolling stock and personal property as the length of the railroad in Georgia bore to the whole length of the railroad, without regard to the location of the head office of the railroad, there was no commercial and industrial personal property tax exemption in Georgia. CSX Transp., Inc. v. State Bd. of Equalization, 448 F. Supp. 2d 1330, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43390 (N.D. Ga. 2005), aff'd, 472 F.3d 1281, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 31142 (11th Cir. 2006), rev'd, 521 F.3d 1300, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 6139 (11th Cir. 2008). Sleeping cars with no fixed situs in the state not taxable. — Commissioner has no authority to assess sleeping cars for county taxation when the cars have no fixed situs in this state, but are temporarily out of train in a county, the assessment being based on the average number and average value of the cars out of the train. Forrester v. Pullman Co., 192 Ga. 221, 15 S.E.2d 185, 1941 Ga. LEXIS 443 (1941). RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 71 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, § 385. C.J.S. 84 C.J.S., Taxation, § 364, 365. ALR. Situs of aircraft, rolling stock, and vessels for purposes of property taxation, 3 A.L.R.4th 837.