Graniteville Mfg. Co. v. Query, 283 U.S. 376 (1931)

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Graniteville Manufacturing Co. v. Query

No. 596

Argued April 27, 1931
Decided May 18, 1931
283 U.S. 376

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Syllabus

1. A state may constitutionally lay a stamp tax in respect of the making of promissory notes within her borders. So held where the notes were made by a domestic corporation and sent to payee banks in other states under an arrangement whereby notes, when received and accepted, were to be placed to the maker’s credit, the maker being at liberty, however, to withdraw and revoke any note until it had been so received and credited by the payee. P. 379.

2. Such a tax is an excise, levied in relation to an action done within the state; it is not a tax on property, nor upon the transfer of property, situate beyond the state’s jurisdiction. P. 379.

44 F.2d 64 affirmed.

Appeal from an order of the District Court of three judges refusing an interlocutory injunction to restrain the collection of certain stamp taxes in South Carolina.