Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 24 > Chapter 53 > Subchapter 1 - Indebtedness Generally

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affiliated group: means a group of two or more corporations in which more than 50 percent of the voting stock of each member corporation is directly or indirectly owned by a common owner or owners, either corporate or noncorporate, or by one or more of the member corporations, but shall exclude foreign corporations and corporations taxable under 8 V. See
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annual meeting: when applied to towns shall mean the annual town meeting in March or an adjournment thereof. See
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Apportioned ratio: means the revenue from assets under management or other investment business for non-Vermont residents who are unrelated persons, divided by the total revenue from assets under management or other investment business for unrelated persons during the tax year. See
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• Cigar: means any roll of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any substance containing tobacco, other than any roll of tobacco that is a cigarette within the meaning of subdivision (1) of this section or is a little cigar within the meaning of subdivision (6) of this section. See
• Cigarette: means :

• Claimant agency: means any unit of State government, including agencies, departments, boards, commissions, authorities, or public corporations, including the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation and a collection agency under contract with the Court Administrator pursuant to 4 V. See
• Code: means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and as applicable to the taxable period; references to sections of the Code shall be deemed to refer to corresponding provisions of prior and subsequent federal tax laws. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Taxes appointed under section 3101 of this title or any officer or employee of the Department authorized by the Commissioner (directly or indirectly by one or more redelegations of authority) to perform the functions mentioned or described in this chapter. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Taxes appointed under 3 V. See
• Commissioner: shall mean the Commissioner of Taxes. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• consumer price index: means the last Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the U. See
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Corporation: means any business entity subject to income taxation as a corporation, and any entity qualified as a small business corporation, under the laws of the United States, with the exception of the following entities that are exempt from taxation under this chapter:

• Court: means a Superior Court or the Judicial Bureau. See
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means any wholesale dealer and retail dealer as herein defined. See
• Debt: means any obligation to pay a sum of money to a claimant agency, the amount of which is fixed by agreement between the debtor and the claimant agency or by operation of law. See
• Debtor: means any individual owing a debt to a claimant agency or owing any support debt that may be collected by the Department for Children and Families. See
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Vermont Department of Taxes. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Digital business entity: means a business entity that, during the entire taxable year:

• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donee: The recipient of a gift.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Executor: means the executor or administrator of the estate of the decedent or, if there is no executor or administrator appointed, qualified, and acting within Vermont, then any person in actual or constructive possession of any property of the decedent. See
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal estate tax liability: means for any decedent's estate the federal estate tax payable by the estate under the laws of the United States after the allowance of all credits against the estate tax provided by the laws of the United States. See
• Federal gross estate: means the gross estate as determined under the laws of the United States. See
• Federal taxable estate: means the taxable estate as determined under the laws of the United States. See
• Federal taxable gifts: means taxable gifts as determined under the laws of the United States. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fiscal year: means an accounting period of 12 months ending on the last day of any month except December, or an accounting period of less than 12 months, which period is employed as the fiscal year of the taxpayer for U. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Gross estate: The total fair market value of all property and property interests, real and personal, tangible and intangible, of which a decedent had beneficial ownership at the time of death before subtractions for deductions, debts, administrative expenses, and casualty losses suffered during estate administration.
• Improvement: shall include , apart from its ordinary signification:

• Individual: means a natural person. See
• inhabitants: shall mean the population of the political division referred to, as ascertained by the national census last completed before the time when such population is a material fact. See
• Intangible property: Property that has no intrinsic value, but is merely the evidence of value such as stock certificates, bonds, and promissory notes.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Investment company: means any person registered under the Federal Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Act) or a company that would be required to register as an investment company under the Act except that such person is exempt to such registration pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) of the Act. See
• Investment management: means the provision of investment management, research, distribution, or administration services to or on behalf of an investment company, including trustees, and sponsors or participants of employee benefit plans that have accounts in an investment company, or to or on behalf of an investment advisor. See
• Investment period: means the period commencing January 1, 2010 and ending December 31, 2014. See
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judgment debtor: means any person who has not paid in full a court judgment for payment of a fine, penalty, surcharge, or fee, but not damages, due and payable to the State or a political subdivision thereof. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legatee: A beneficiary of a decedent
• Legislative branch: shall mean the mayor and board of aldermen of a city, the selectboard of a town, the trustees of a village, the board of school directors of a school district, the trustees or prudential committee of a graded school or fire district, and the Board of Governors of the unified towns and gores of Essex County, and, with respect to other municipal corporations, the governing body designated by statute. See
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Licensed wholesale dealer: shall mean a wholesale dealer licensed under the provisions of this chapter. See
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Little cigars: means any rolls of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or any substance containing tobacco, other than any roll of tobacco that is a cigarette within the meaning of subdivision (1) of this section, and as to which 1,000 units weigh not more than four and one-half pounds. See
• Manufacturer: means a person who manufactures and sells cigarettes, little cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, new smokeless tobacco, and other tobacco products. See
• Marital deduction: The deduction(s) that can be taken in the determination of gift and estate tax liabilities because of the existence of a marriage or marital relationship.
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• Municipal corporation: shall include a city, town, village, town school district, graded school district, or other incorporated, union, or unified school district or any entity providing educational services which is eligible to receive State aid under 16 Vt. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• New smokeless tobacco: means any tobacco product manufactured from, derived from, or containing tobacco that is not intended to be smoked, has a moisture content of less than 45 percent, or is offered in individual single-dose tablets or other discrete single-use units. See
• Nondebtor spouse: means any individual who is not a debtor, but has filed a joint income tax return or claim under chapter 154 of this title with a debtor. See
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Other tobacco products: means any product manufactured from, derived from, or containing tobacco that is intended for human consumption by smoking, chewing, or in any other manner, including products sold as a tobacco substitute, as defined in 7 V. See
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Part-year resident individual or trust: means , for any taxable year, an individual or trust qualifying for residency in this State during only part of that taxable year. See
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: shall include an individual, firm, partnership, association, joint stock company, corporation, trust, estate, or other entity. See
• Person: shall mean any individual, firm, fiduciary, partnership, corporation, trust, or association, however formed. See
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Personal estate: shall include all property other than real estate. See
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Place of business: means any place where tobacco products are sold or where tobacco products are manufactured, stored, or kept for the purpose of sale or consumption, including any vessel, vehicle, airplane, train, or vending machine. See
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Pro rata share: means the portion of any item attributable to an S corporation shareholder for a taxable period determined in the manner provided in, and subject to any election made under, subsection 1377(a) or 1362(e), as the case may be, of the Code. See
• Probate: Proving a will
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Qualified applicant: means an owner or lessee of a qualified building involving a qualified project but does not include a State or federal agency or a political subdivision of either or an instrumentality of the United States. See
• Qualified building: means a building built at least 30 years before the date of application, located within a designated downtown, village center, or neighborhood development area, which, upon completion of the project supported by the tax credit, will be an income-producing building not used solely as a single-family residence. See
• Qualified capital expenditures: means expenditures properly chargeable to a capital account by a qualified taxpayer during the investment period, totaling at least $20 million for machinery and equipment to be located and used in Vermont for creating, producing, or processing tangible personal property for sale. See
• Qualified code improvement project: means a project:

• Qualified expenditures: means construction-related expenses of the taxpayer directly related to the project for which the tax credit is sought but excluding any expenses related to a private residence. See
• Qualified Flood Mitigation Project: means any combination of structural and nonstructural changes to a building located within the flood hazard area as mapped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that reduces or eliminates flood damage to the building or its contents. See
• Qualified historic rehabilitation project: means an historic rehabilitation project that has received federal certification for the rehabilitation project. See
• Qualified payroll expense: means compensation for performance by the qualified person's employees related to investment advisor, investment management, or investment company services in Vermont. See
• Qualified person: means any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, sole proprietor, or trust primarily engaged in business as an investment advisor and registered as such with the Federal Securities Exchange Commissions or primarily engaged in investment management, or an investment company. See
• Qualified project: means a qualified code improvement, qualified façade improvement, or qualified historic rehabilitation project as defined by this subchapter. See
• Qualified resident taxpayer: means an individual qualifying for residency as defined under subdivision (11) of this section and whose adjusted gross income is equal to or less than:

• Qualified taxpayer: means a taxpayer that:

• real estate: shall include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein, and pews or slips in places of public worship shall be treated as real estate. See
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Refund: means any individual's State income tax refund under chapter 151 of this title and any payment due a claimant under chapter 154 of this title. See
• Required annual payment: means the lesser of:

• Resident estate: means the estate of a decedent who, at the decendent's death, was domiciled in this State. See
• Retail dealer: shall mean a person licensed pursuant to 7 V. See
• Roll-your-own tobacco: means any tobacco that, because of its appearance, type, packaging, or labeling, is suitable for use and likely to be offered to, or purchased by, consumers as tobacco for making cigarettes. See
• S corporation: means a corporation for which a valid election under subsection 1362(a) of the Code is in effect. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
• sell: means any transfer, exchange, or barter in any manner or by any means whatever, of any cigarettes or tobacco products. See
• semiweekly: means twice per week. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Snuff: means any finely cut, ground, or powdered tobacco that is not intended to be smoked, has a moisture content of not less than 45 percent, and is not offered in individual single-dose tablets or other discrete single-use units. See
• Stamp: shall mean any impression, stamp, label, or print manufactured, printed, or made as prescribed by the Commissioner. See
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
• State Board: means the Vermont Downtown Development Board established pursuant to 24 Vt. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Support debt: means a support delinquency pursuant to an obligation determined under a court order or as a result of an administrative process established by this or another state. See
• Tax: means , for any taxpayer and for any taxable year, the income tax liability of the taxpayer for that taxable year under section 5822 of this title, reduced by any allowable credits against such tax. See
• tax liability: includes the liability for all amounts owing by a taxpayer to the State of Vermont under this chapter. See
• Taxable corporation: means , for any taxable year, a corporation that, at any time during that taxable year:

• Taxable income: means , in the case of an individual, federal adjusted gross income determined without regard to 26 U. See
• Taxable period: means any taxable year or portion of a taxable year during which a corporation is an S corporation. See
• Taxable year: means the calendar year, or the fiscal year ending during the calendar year, with respect to which a tax is imposed under this chapter and, in the case of a return filed with respect to a fractional part of a year, the period with respect to which the return is filed. See
• Taxpayer: means a person obligated to file a return with or pay or remit any amount to this State under this chapter. See
• Taxpayer: means the executor of an estate, the estate itself, the donor of a gift, or any person or entity or combination of these who is liable for the payment of any tax, interest, penalty, fee, or other amount under this chapter. See
• Tenancy by the entirety: A type of joint tenancy between husband and wife that is recognized in some States. Neither party can sever the joint tenancy relationship; when a spouse dies, the survivor acquires full title to the property.
• Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unitary business: means one or more related business organizations engaged in business activity both within and outside the State among which there exists a unity of ownership, operation, and use or an interdependence in their functions. See
• Unrelated persons: means any person other than the person claiming the credit under this section, or his or her spouse, parent, child, or sibling. See
• Vermont income tax liability: means for an individual, the taxpayer's Vermont income tax liability as determined under this chapter multiplied by the percentage of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income from sources defined in subsection (a) of this section; and for a corporation, the taxpayer's Vermont tax liability as determined under this chapter multiplied by the percentage of the taxpayer's Vermont net income from sources defined in subsection (a) of this section. See
• Vermont net income: includes the allocable share of the combined net income of the group. See
• Vermont net operating loss: means any negative income after allocation and apportionment of Vermont net income pursuant to section 5833 of this chapter. See
• Vermont taxable estate: means the federal taxable estate as provided under 26 U. See
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Wholesale dealer: means a person who imports or causes to be imported into the State any cigarettes, little cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, new smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco product for sale or who sells or furnishes any of these products to other wholesale dealers or retail dealers for the purpose of resale, but not by small quantity or parcel to consumers thereof. See
• Wholesale outlet: shall mean any premises where cigarettes, little cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, new smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products are sold, transferred, displayed, or held for sale by a wholesale dealer. See
• Wholesale price: means the price at which a licensed wholesale dealer sells or furnishes cigarettes, little cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, new smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products to any retail dealer. See
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.