Taxation-State and Local Commons^™

The Doctrine Of Constructive Fraud In The Washington Law Of Taxation, John N. Rupp

Washington Law Review

Two recent Washington decisions, Bellingham Development Co. v. Whatcom County and Grays Harbor Pac. R. Co. v. Grays Harbor County present separate phases of a problem which has been frequently considered by the Supreme Court of Washington and concerning which that court has formulated a general rule: namely, that the court will relieve a taxpayer from the burden of an excessive tax where the conduct of the taxing officers has been so improper that it can be called "constructively fraudulent", even though the officers acted in good faith. The rule is clearly a proper one, but, like so many "general …