Municipal profession tax notice requirements are directory where substantial compliance satisfies the statutory object and objection process.

Notice and publication requirements for levying a new municipal profession tax were held to be directory rather than conditions precedent to the taxing power. The statutory scheme required a council resolution, Gazette and newspaper notice, and a reasonable objection period of at least one month, but these steps were construed as procedural safeguards intended to inform taxpayers and invite objections. Substantial compliance with that object was sufficient, and the executive authority's role in publication did not invalidate the levy. The challenge that the appellants were not carrying on a profession was also unsupported in light of the statutory definition, and the profession tax was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the notice and publication requirements for the levy of a new municipal profession tax under section 78 were mandatory or directory, and whether the tax was invalid for want of strict compliance.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required the municipal council to pass a resolution, publish notice of its intention in the official Gazette and in a local newspaper, and allow a reasonable period of not less than one month for objections before the tax could be notified under section 79. The executive authority's role in publishing the notification was within the functions assigned by section 16 and did not render the process invalid. Although the words "not being less than one month" indicate that a clear month is ordinarily contemplated, the provision had to be read with the phrase "reasonable period" and with the object of informing prospective taxpayers and inviting objections. On that construction, the time requirement was procedural and directory, not a condition going to the power to levy the tax. The challenge based on the appellants not carrying on a profession was not entertained in the connected appeals and was, in any event, unsupported in view of the statutory definition of profession.

Conclusion: The levy of the profession tax was valid and the notice requirement under section 78 was directory; the connected appeals challenging the tax failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing statute prescribes notice and publication steps for inviting objections before a municipal levy, those requirements are directory if they are intended to secure reasonable opportunity and substantial compliance with the statutory object, and not to condition the very power to impose the tax.

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