CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - INTERSTATE COMMERCE - STATE OCCUPATION TAX ON OPERATION OF RADIO BROADCASTING STATION

Authors

Abstract

A domestic corporation, owning and operating two radio stations, both broadcasting well beyond the state's borders, sought to enjoin the enforcement of an annual occupation tax equal to one per cent of gross income from business within the state. It was admitted that while a state might impose a property tax on a business engaged only in interstate commerce or a tax solely to support regulation in the exercise of the state's police power, an unapportioned gross income tax on a business engaged in intrastate and interstate commerce would be an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce, although a net income tax might not be. Although the administration of the state law provided for proportioning intrastate and interstate business, there was no attempt at allocation in the present case, and consequently the tax could only have been upheld on the ground that the business taxed was not interstate commerce. The United States Supreme Court held that the business of radio broadcasting was interstate commerce, reversing the Washington court on this point, and ruled that the tax involved was an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. Fisher's Blend Station v. Tax Commission, (U.S. 1936) 56 S. Ct. 608.

Recommended Citation

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - INTERSTATE COMMERCE - STATE OCCUPATION TAX ON OPERATION OF RADIO BROADCASTING STATION, 34 Mich. L. Rev. 1231 (1936).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol34/iss8/17