’ VERNON OIL COMPANY, AN ILLINOIS CORPORATION, Claimant, v. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Respondent.
Case summary
Claimant sought refund of $7,396.15 in overpaid motor fuel tax. The court dismissed the claim as barred by the two-year statute of limitations in Section 22 of the Court of Claims Act, because the claim accrued more than two years before filing.
Statutes cited: Chapter 37, Section 439.22, Illinois Revised Statutes 1945
Cases cited: Illinois Oil Company v. State, No. 3976
AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.
Headnotes
- MOTOR FUEL TAX - overpayment of tax - c l a m filed moi-e thun 2 ?/ears ufter t h e cause of action accmed. Pursuant to Chapter 37, Section 439.22, Illinois Revised Statutes 1945, and referred to as Section 22 of t h e Court of Claims Act in effect on July 1, 1945 operates as a limitation on t h e jurisdiction of this court; reference i s made to Illin o i s Oil Conzpany vs. State, No. 3976 Opinion which was filed a t this term of Court.
Claimant, Vernon Oil Company, an Illinois corporation, filed its complaint on March 3, 1947 to recover the sum .of $7,396.15, which sum it alleges was overpaid to the State for motor fuel tax owed to the State for the [*49] period from Januarp 1, 1938 through July 1944. Tht complaint further alleges that in the latter part of the , year 1944 the State audited the books of claimant for the purpose of checking the motor fuel tax owed to the State for the periad from January 1, 1938 through July 1944, and that said audit showed claimant had overpaid the motor fuel tax by the said sum of $7,396.15.
The respondent filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for the reason that the claim is barred by the statute of limitations contained in Chapter 37, Section 439.22, Illinois Revised Statutes 1945. This section is commonly referred to as Section 22 of the Court of Claims Act, which went into effect on July 1, 1945, and reads: “Every claim cognizable by the court and not atherwise sooner barred by law shall be forever barred from prosecution therein unless it is filed with the clerk of the court within two years after it first accrues, saving to infants, idiots, lunatics, insane persons, and persons ‘under other disability at the time the claim accrues two years from the time the disability ceases.”
The complaint, on its face, shows that the cause of action arose over two years prior t o k a r c h 3, 1947, the date complaint was filed. In the case of Illinois Oil Company v. State, No. 3976, opinion in which mas filed at this term of Court, we discussed this question at length. We held in this case that said Section 22 operates as a limitation on the jurisdiction of this Court, and that claim must be filed within two years from the time the cause of action accrued.
The motion of respondent is granted, and the case is hereby dismissed.
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