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Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia, 347 U.S. 359 (1954)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia, 347 U.S. 359 (1954)
Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia No. 163 Argued January 5, 1954 Decided April 5, 1954 347 U.S. 359
APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Syllabus
A Virginia statute provides a separate and detailed system of taxation for express companies. In addition to "taxes on property of express companies," it provides that, "for the privilege of doing business in this State," express companies shall pay an "annual license tax" upon gross receipts earned in the State "on business passing through, into, or out of this State."
Held: the gross receipts tax is in fact a effect a privilege tax, and its application to a foreign corporation doing an exclusively interstate business violates the Commerce Clause of the Federal Constitution. Pp. 360-369.
(a) In a case involving the line between permissible state taxation of property at its full value, including going concern value, and prohibited taxation of gross receipts from interstate commerce, neither the state courts nor the legislature, by giving the tax a particular name or by the use of some form of words, can relieve this Court of its duty to consider the nature and effect of the tax, in which inquiry this Court is concerned only with the practical operation of the tax. P. 363.
(b) When assessing tangible property, the State has the right to use any fair formula which will give effect to the intangible factors which influence real values, but that is not what the State did here. P. 364.
(c) The practical effect of the challenged tax conforms to its statutory description as one whose impact is squarely upon gross receipts without consideration of their relation to the value of any of the classes of property recognized elsewhere in the statute. Pp. 364-369
(d) Local incidents such as gathering up or putting down interstate commodities as an integral part of their interstate movement are not adequate grounds for a state license, privilege or occupation tax. Pp. 367-368.
(e) Baltimore Steam Packet Co. v. Virginia, 343 U.S. 923, and Norfolk, B. & C. Line v. Virginia, 343 U.S. 923, distinguished. Pp. 368-369.
194 Va. 757, 75 S.E.2d 61, reversed.
The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia sustained the constitutionality of a state tax as applied to appellant. 194 Va. 757, 75 S. E. 2d 61. On appeal to this Court, reversed and remanded, p. 369.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia, 347 U.S. 359 (1954) in 347 U.S. 359 347 U.S. 360. Original Sources, accessed November 22, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YAPJBRAJ7L41GCW.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia, 347 U.S. 359 (1954), in 347 U.S. 359, page 347 U.S. 360. Original Sources. 22 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YAPJBRAJ7L41GCW.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. Virginia, 347 U.S. 359 (1954). cited in 1954, 347 U.S. 359, pp.347 U.S. 360. Original Sources, retrieved 22 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=YAPJBRAJ7L41GCW.
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