Chadwick-BaRoss, Inc. v. City of Westbrook

Chadwick-BaRoss Inc., a business located in the City of Westbrook, is a heavy-equipment dealer that sells equipment at retail and occasionally leases equipment to customers. After receiving a 2012 personal property tax declaration from Chadwick-BaRoss, the City asked the company to include additional equipment that was held in the physical possession of others pursuant to lease agreements. Chadwick-BaRoss responded that those items were available for immediate sale and were therefore exempt from the personal property tax. When the City and its tax assessor (together, Defendants) issued a supplemental tax bill, Chadwick-BaRoss filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that it did not owe personal property taxes on the equipment that it leased to others. The superior court entered summary judgment for Defendants, concluding that the equipment did not fall clearly within the personal property tax exemption for stock-in-trade. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the leased equipment was not held or kept in stock by Chadwick-BaRoss for sale or rental and was thus properly subject to taxation. View "Chadwick-BaRoss, Inc. v. City of Westbrook" on Justia Law