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Is "Internal Consistency" Foolish?: Reflections On An Emerging Commerce Clause Restraint On State Taxation, Walter Hellerstein
Is "Internal Consistency" Foolish?: Reflections On An Emerging Commerce Clause Restraint On State Taxation, Walter Hellerstein
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Before 1983, the Supreme Court had never uttered the phrase "internal consistency" in a state tax opinion. Since 1983, however, the Court has invoked the principle of "internal consistency" on four separate occasions in adjudicating the validity of state taxes under the commerce clause. Indeed, by 1987, the Court could refer almost casually to the "internal consistency" criterion as "the test ... we have applied in other contexts." The Court's talk of "internal consistency" cannot be dismissed as mere rhetoric. Three of the four taxes that have been put to the "internal consistency" test have flunked it; cases approving taxes …
Utility Gross Receipt Taxes And Inter-Exchange Telecommunications Carriers, Walter Hellerstein
Utility Gross Receipt Taxes And Inter-Exchange Telecommunications Carriers, Walter Hellerstein
Scholarly Works
This article addresses whether there is any continuing justification for applying state utility gross receipts taxes to interexchange telecommunications carriers. First, the article explores the historical basis for imposing special taxes on utilities, including telecommunications companies, and observes that such levies were designed as a quid pro quo for the special rights and privileges the state granted to utilities. Next, it traces the evolution of the telecommunications industry and demonstrates that the historical rationale for imposing gross receipts taxes on the telecommunications industry no longer applies to the competitive segment of the industry in which interexchange carriers operate. The article …