Selliger v. Kentucky, 213 U.S. 200 (1909)

Selliger v. Kentucky


No. 115


Argued March 1, 17, 1909
Decided April 5, 1909
213 U.S. 200

ERROR TO THE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Syllabus

Where there is nothing in the record on which to base them, this Court cannot indulge in presumptions as to which of several possible forms a transaction may have taken.

Where goods are exempt from the taxing power of the state under the Constitution of the United States because not within the state, the protection of the Constitution extends to warehouse receipts for those goods locally present within the state, and this rule applied to whiskey in a foreign country, warehouse receipts for which were held by a person in Kentucky and sought to be taxed as personal property at owner’s domicil.

A tax upon warehouse receipts for goods amounts in substance and effect to a tax upon the goods themselves. Fairbank v. United States, 181 U.S. 283.

The facts are stated in the opinion.