Law Commons^™

State Taxation Of Interstate Commerce, Gilbert S. Merritt Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. v. Minnesota,' the Supreme Court recently granted states the broad power to tax earnings of out-of-state corporations from business done within each state. Justice Clark, speaking for the majority, laid down the doctrine that "the entire net income of a corporation, generated by interstate as well as intrastate activities, may be fairly apportioned among the States for tax purposes by formulas utilizing in-state aspects of inter-state affairs." The purpose of this note is to analyze the doctrine, its background and possible economic consequences.