CARRIERS - STATE TAXATION OF INTERSTATE MOTOR CARRIERS

Authors

Thomas K. Fisher, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Appellant, an Ohio corporation, was engaged exclusively in interstate commerce as a common carrier of property for hire by motor vehicle. In 1937 the Georgia legislature passed a Maintenance Tax Act which provided, inter alia, for a tax, graduated according to manufacturer's rated capacity, on each motor common carrier for hire, and a tax, substantially smaller in the respective rated capacities, on each motor vehicle not used as a common carrier for hire. Appellant contested the validity of the tax on the grounds that it was repugnant to the commerce clause of the Constitution and that it violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Held, the tax was reasonable compensation for the privilege of operating over the state's highways; and the classification complained of was not unreasonable or arbitrary. Dixie Ohio Express Co. v. State Revenue Commission of Georgia, (U.S. 1939) 59 S. Ct. 435.

Recommended Citation

Thomas K. Fisher, CARRIERS - STATE TAXATION OF INTERSTATE MOTOR CARRIERS, 37 Mich. L. Rev. 798 (1939).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol37/iss5/13