J. BACON & SONS
v.
MARTIN

U.S. | 1939-01-03
No. 203
305 U.S. 380 Supreme Court of the United States (1939) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 83 L. Ed. 233 · 59 S. Ct. 257 · 1939 U.S. LEXIS 927 · SCDB 1938-117
Cited by 14 cases

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Synopsis

J. Bacon & Sons challenged a Kentucky tax on cosmetics received by retailers, arguing it unconstitutionally burdened interstate commerce by taxing the act of receiving goods from out-of-state sellers. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the Kentucky Court of Appeals' construction of the statute—interpreting "receipt" to mean possession and control after sale rather than the act of receiving itself—was binding and consistent with established principles governing state excise taxes on goods in commerce.

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Per_curiam
Per Curiam.

Per Curiam.

Plaintiff sought judgment declaring invalid a statute imposing a tax on “the receipt of cosmetics in the State by any Kentucky retailer,”1 as applied to articles purchased from manufacturers and dealers in other States and transported to plaintiff at its place of business in Kentucky. Plaintiff contended that the tax was on “the act of receiving” and hence was a direct burden upon interstate commerce. The Court of Appeals of Kentucky thus construed the statute:

“The word ‘receipt’ is not used in a limited sense, but in the sense that it has already been received by the retailer and is now in his use. . ‘. . That word 'receipt’ presupposes that the cosmetics were now in use and after the sale had been consummated.

“ . . . It, therefore, follows that the imposition of the tax against the retailer is not on the act of receiving the cosmetics, but on the sale and use thereof, after the retailer has received them, that constitutes the excise tax. When we apply the intended and correct meaning of the word ‘receipt’ as used in the act, it is conclusive to' our minds that the tax of the retailer, referred to, is paid when the articles are in his possession and when the merchant has unlimited control and dominion over the cosmetics.” Martin v. J. Bacon & Sons, 268 Ky. 612, 618, 619; 105 S. W. 2d 569, 572.

Adhering to that construction, the state court .affirmed the present judgment sustaining the tax. 273 Ky. 389; 116 S. W. 2d 963. The plaintiff appeals.

The construction of the statute by the state court is binding upon us. Supreme Lodge, Knights of Pythias v. Meyer, 265 U. S. 30, 32, 33; Hicklin v. Coney, 290 U. S. 169, 172; Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. Nelson Manufacturing Co., 291 U. S. 352, 358. And in the light of its construction the state court applied the principles declared in our decisions. Monamotor Oil Co. v. Johnson, 292 U. S. 86, 93; Gregg Dyeing Co. v. Query, 286 U. S. 472, 478, 479; Nashville, C. & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Wallace, 288 U. S. 249, 265, 266; Edelman v. Boeing Air Transport, Inc., 289 U. S. 249, 252.

The appeal is dismissed for the want of a substantial federal question.

Dismissed.

Subsection (f) of § 2 of Chapter 3 of the 1936 Special Budget and Special Revenue Session of the Legislature of Kentucky. Carroll’s Kentucky Statutes, Baldwin’s 1936 Revision, §§ 4281d-l to 4281d-25.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Consolidation Coal Co. v. Martin, 113 F.2d 813 (6th Cir. 1940)
    …tions, the tax is rightly assessed. In construing § 4077, we are bound to follow the decisions of the courts of Kentucky. Morehead v. New York ex rel. Tipaldo, 298 U.S. 587, 609, 56 S.Ct. 918, 80 L.Ed. 1347, 103 A.L.R. 1445; Bacon & Sons v. Martin, 305 U.S. 380, 59 S.Ct. 257, 83 L.Ed. 233. Under the Kentucky decisions, the decree of the District Court was correct and must be affirmed. Appellant does not fall within the list of corporations expressly enumerated in the statute, but it does fall within the c…
  • Nesbitt v. Gill, 332 U.S. 749 (U.S. 1947)
    …Per Curiam: The motion to affirm is granted and the judgment is affirmed. Bacon & Sons v. Martin, 305 U. S. 380; Gregg Dyeing Co. v. Query, 286 U. S. 472.…
  • McCAW v. Fase, 216 F.2d 700 (9th Cir. 1954)
    …self, but also the practices under it, limit the tax to income from local activities only. Such interpretation must be followed by us. Osborne v. State of Florida, 1897, 164 U.S. 650, 654, 17 S.Ct. 214, 41 L.Ed. 586; J. Bacon & Sons v. Martin, 1939, 305 U.S. 380, 59 S.Ct. 257, 83 L.Ed. 233. It is quite evident that a tax capable of such application is not a burden on commerce. And any general statement in Fisher’s Blend Station, Inc., v. State Tax Commission, 1936, 297 U.S. 650, 56 S.Ct. 608, 80 L.Ed. 956,…

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