UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
PANHANDLE OIL CO. V. MISSISSIPPI EX REL. KNOX, 277 U. S. 218 (1928)
277 U. S. 218U.S. Supreme Court
Panhandle Oil Co. v. Mississippi ex Rel. Knox, 277 U.S. 218 (1928)
Panhandle Oil Company v. Mississippi ex Rel. Knox
No. 288
Argued March 5, 1928
Decided May 14, 1928
277 U.S. 218
Syllabus
1. A state tax imposed on dealers in gasoline for the privilege of selling, and measured at so many cents per gallon of gasoline sold, is void under the federal Constitution as applied to sales to instrumentalities of the United States, such as the Coast Guard Fleet and a Veterans' Hospital. P. 277 U. S. 222.
2. The substance and legal effect is to tax the sale, and thus burden and tax the United States, exacting tribute on its transactions for the support of the state. Id.
3. Such an exaction infringes the right of the dealer to have the constitutional independence of the United States in respect of such purchases remain untrammeled. Id.
147 Miss. 663 reversed.
Error to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Mississippi sustaining a suit brought by the State of Mississippi to recover taxes assessed on sales of gasoline made by the defendant, plaintiff in error. clubjuris