Gillespie v. State of Oklahoma, No. 322

CourtUnited States Supreme Court
Writing for the CourtHOLMES
Citation66 L.Ed. 338,42 S.Ct. 171,257 U.S. 501
PartiesGILLESPIE v. STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Docket NumberNo. 322
Decision Date30 January 1922

257 U.S. 501
42 S.Ct. 171
66 L.Ed. 338
GILLESPIE

v.

STATE OF OKLAHOMA.

No. 322.
Argued Jan. 3, 1922.
Decided Jan. 30, 1922.

James P. Gilmore, of Tulsa, Okl., for plaintiff in error.

Page 502

C. W. King, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for the State of Oklahoma.

[Argument of Counsel from page 502-503 intentionally omitted]

Page 503

Mr. Justice HOLMES delivered the opinion of the Court.

Chapter 164, Oklahoma Laws of 1915, makes every person of the State liable to a tax upon his entire net income arising from all sources, except such as is exempt from taxation by some law of the United States or of the State. Under that statute Oklahoma seeks in these proceedings to hold the defendant, the plaintiff in error, liable for taxes for the years 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918, upon net income derived by him as lessee from leases of restricted Indian (Creek and Osage) lands, the leases being of the kind dealt with in Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf R. R. Co. v. Harrison, 235 U. S. 292, 35 Sup. Ct. 27, 59 L. Ed. 234, and Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Co. V. Oklahoma, 240 U. S. 522, 36 Sup. Ct. 453, 60 L. Ed. 779. The

Page 504

facts were set forth by the defendant in special returns for the years mentioned, claiming exemption under the Constitution and laws of the United States. The auditor of the State accepted the returns as true but held that the defendant was liable to taxes on the income derived by him from sales of his share of oil and gas received under his leases. It is agreed that the lessee was an instrumentality used by the United States in carrying out duties to the Indians that it had assumed, and that the only question in the case is whether he is liable to this kind of tax. The District Court of the State held the tax void and on appeal by the State the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, but upon rehearing changed its mind and ordered the judgment reversed.

In Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf R. R. Co. v. Harrison, 235 U. S. 292, 35 Sup. Ct. 27, 59 L. Ed. 234, it was held that such a lessee could not be taxed on the gross sales of coals from Choctaw and Chickasaw mines, when the tax was in addition to the taxes collected upon an ad valorem basis. In Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Co. v. Oklahoma, 240 U. S. 522, 36 Sup. Ct. 453, 60 L. Ed. 779, it was held that a similar lessee could not be taxed upon the value of an Osage oil lease. Subsequently the principle was applied per curiam to gross production taxes under a later statute of 1916, without reference to the fact that the taxes, instead of being in addition to, were in lieu of all taxes upon property rights. Howard v. Gipsy Oil Co., 247 U. S. 503, 38 Sup. Ct. 426, 62 L. Ed. 1239; Large Oil Co. v. Howard, 248 U. S. 549, 39 Sup. Ct. 183, 63 L. Ed. 416.

The argument for the State is based primarily upon the cases sustaining taxes upon net income that include gains from interstate commerce, Shaffer v. Carter, 252 U. S. 37, 57, 40 Sup. Ct. 221, 64 L. Ed. 445; United States Glue Co. v. Oak Creek, 247 U. S. 321, 38 Sup. Ct. 499, 62 L. Ed. 1135, Ann. Cas. 1918E, 748; when 'all expenses are paid and losses adjusted, and after the recipient of the income is free to use it as he chooses.' William E. Peck & Co., Inc., v. Lowe, 247 U. S. 165, 175, 38 Sup. Ct. 432, 434 (62...

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161 practice notes
  • Herpel v. Cnty. of Riverside, E070618
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • February 10, 2020
    ...the government has assumed in reference to these Indians may be entirely defeated ...."]. And in Gillespie v. State of Oklahoma (1922) 257 U.S. 501, 506, 42 S.Ct. 171, 66 L.Ed. 338, overruled by Helvering v. Mountain Producers Corporation (1938) 303 U.S. 376, 387, 58 S.Ct. 623, 82 L.Ed. 907......
  • State ex rel. Baumann v. Bowles, No. 35209.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • April 21, 1938
    ...416, 37 Sup. Ct. 735; Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U.S. 107, 31 Sup. Ct. 357; Frey v. Woodworth, 2 Fed. (2d) 725; Gillespie v. Oklahoma, 257 U.S. 501, 42 Sup. Ct. 171, 66 L. Ed. 338; Graves v. Texas Co., 298 U.S. 393, 56 Sup. Ct. 818; Halsey v. Helvering, 75 Fed. (2d) 234; Heino v. Grand R......
  • Hunton v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • Virginia Supreme Court of Virginia
    • January 16, 1936
    ...429, 15 S.Ct. 673, 39 L.Ed. 759; Evans Gore (1920), 253 U.S. 245, 40 S.Ct. 550, 64 L.Ed. 887, 11 A.L.R. 519; Gillespie Oklahoma (1922), 257 U.S. 501, 42 S.Ct. 171, 66 L.Ed. 338; Mutual Life Ins. Co. State of Wisconsin, 276, U.S. 602, 48 S.Ct. 323, 72 L.Ed. 726; National Life Ins. Co. U.S., ......
  • Macallen Co. v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • September 28, 1928
    ...526, 34 S. Ct. 354, 58 L. Ed. 706;Jaybird Mining Co. v. Weir, 271 U. S. 609, 613, 46 S. Ct. 592, 70 L. Ed. 1112;Gillespie v. Oklahoma, 257 U. S. 501, 505,42 S. Ct. 271,66 L. Ed. 338;Northwestern Ins. Co. v. Wisconsin, 275 U. S. 136, 140, 48 S. Ct. 55, 72 L. Ed. 202. We rest this opinion upo......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
160 cases
  • Herpel v. Cnty. of Riverside, E070618
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • February 10, 2020
    ...the government has assumed in reference to these Indians may be entirely defeated ...."]. And in Gillespie v. State of Oklahoma (1922) 257 U.S. 501, 506, 42 S.Ct. 171, 66 L.Ed. 338, overruled by Helvering v. Mountain Producers Corporation (1938) 303 U.S. 376, 387, 58 S.Ct. 623, 82 L.Ed. 907......
  • State ex rel. Baumann v. Bowles, No. 35209.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Missouri
    • April 21, 1938
    ...416, 37 Sup. Ct. 735; Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U.S. 107, 31 Sup. Ct. 357; Frey v. Woodworth, 2 Fed. (2d) 725; Gillespie v. Oklahoma, 257 U.S. 501, 42 Sup. Ct. 171, 66 L. Ed. 338; Graves v. Texas Co., 298 U.S. 393, 56 Sup. Ct. 818; Halsey v. Helvering, 75 Fed. (2d) 234; Heino v. Grand R......
  • Hunton v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • Virginia Supreme Court of Virginia
    • January 16, 1936
    ...429, 15 S.Ct. 673, 39 L.Ed. 759; Evans Gore (1920), 253 U.S. 245, 40 S.Ct. 550, 64 L.Ed. 887, 11 A.L.R. 519; Gillespie Oklahoma (1922), 257 U.S. 501, 42 S.Ct. 171, 66 L.Ed. 338; Mutual Life Ins. Co. State of Wisconsin, 276, U.S. 602, 48 S.Ct. 323, 72 L.Ed. 726; National Life Ins. Co. U.S., ......
  • Macallen Co. v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • September 28, 1928
    ...526, 34 S. Ct. 354, 58 L. Ed. 706;Jaybird Mining Co. v. Weir, 271 U. S. 609, 613, 46 S. Ct. 592, 70 L. Ed. 1112;Gillespie v. Oklahoma, 257 U. S. 501, 505,42 S. Ct. 271,66 L. Ed. 338;Northwestern Ins. Co. v. Wisconsin, 275 U. S. 136, 140, 48 S. Ct. 55, 72 L. Ed. 202. We rest this opinion upo......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • STARE DECISIS, WORKABILITY, AND ROE V. WADE: AN INTRODUCTION.
    • United States
    • Ave Maria Law Review Nbr. 18, January 2020
    • January 1, 2020
    ...492 U.S. 490 (1989) (No. 88-605). (59.) Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., 285 U.S. 393, 400-01 (1932). (60.) Gillespie v. Oklahoma, 257 U.S. 501 (61.) Burnet, 285 U.S. at 405 (Brandeis, J., dissenting). (62.) Id. (63.) Id. at 404-05 (Stone, J., dissenting). (64.) Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompki......

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