Henry Darnell v. State of Indiana

Citation226 U.S. 390,57 L.Ed. 267,33 S.Ct. 120
Decision Date23 December 1912
Docket NumberNo. 78,78
PartiesHENRY G. DARNELL, Executor of the Estate of Isaac M. Darnell, Deceased, and Walter S. Darnell, Plffs. in Err., v. STATE OF INDIANA
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Joseph F. Cowern and Merrill Moores for plaintiffs in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 390-393 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Morton S. Hawkins, Thomas M. Honan Attorney General of Indiana, James E. McCullough, Edward B. Raub, and Martin M. Hugg for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 393-397 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an action brought by the state of Indiana for taxes on stock of a Tennessee corporation, owned by the principal defendant. The Indiana statutes purport to tax all shares in foreign corporations except national banks, owned by inhabitants of the state, and all shares in domestic corporations when the property of such corporations is not exempt or is not taxable to the corporation itself. If the value of the stock exceeds that of the tangible taxable property, this excess also is taxed. Burns's Anno. Stat. (Ind.) 1908, §§ 10,143, 10,233, 10,234. The declaration was demurred to on the ground that the statutes were contrary to the commerce clause, art. 1, § 8, and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Judgment was entered for the plaintiff (174 Ind. 143, 90 N. E. 769), and a writ of error was allowed.

The case is pretty nearly disposed of by Kidd v. Alabama, 188 U. S. 730, 47 L. ed. 669, 23 Sup. Ct. Rep. 401, where the real matter of complaint, that the property of the corporation presumably is taxed in Tennessee, is answered. See also Wright v. Louisville & N. R. Co. 195 U. S. 219, 222, 49 L. ed. 167, 168, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 16. But it is said that the former decision does not deal with the objection that the statutes work a discrimination against stock in corporations of other states, contrary to principles often recognized. I. M. Darnell & Son. Co. v. Memphis, 208 U. S. 113, 52 L. ed. 413, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 247. The most serious aspect of this objection is that the statutes of Indiana do not make allowance if a foreign corporation has property taxed within the state. But, as to this, it is enough to say that, however the statutes may be construed in a case of that sort, the plaintiffs in error do not show that it is theirs, and that, as they do not belong to the class for whose sake the constitutional protection would be given, if it would, they cannot complain on that ground. Smiley v. Kansas, 196 U. S. 447, 457, 49 L. ed. 546, 551, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 289; New York ex rel. Hatch v. Reardon, 204 U. S. 152, 160,...

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  • Colgate v. Harvey
    • United States
    • Vermont Supreme Court
    • November 14, 1934
    ...well within the principles laid down in Kidd v. Alabama, 188 U. S. 733, 23 S. Ct. 402, 47 L. Ed. 669, 672, and Darnell v. Indiana, 226 U. S. 390, 33 S. Ct. 120, 57 L. Ed. 267, 272. In determining the basis of such taxes, even in the case of a nonresident taxpayer, the amount of business don......
  • MAYO COLLABOR. SERVICES v. COM'R OF REVENUE, No. A04-2190.
    • United States
    • Minnesota Supreme Court
    • June 30, 2005
    ...for equal treatment when a credit is allowed for payment of in — or out-of-state taxes by a third party. See Darnell v. Indiana, 226 U.S. 390, 33 S.Ct. 120, 57 L.Ed. 267 (1912)." Jefferson Lines, 514 U.S. at 193 n. 6, 115 S.Ct. Darnell involved an Indiana tax on stock owned by a taxpayer do......
  • Barnes v. Jones
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • April 13, 1925
    ... ... which is admitted by a demurrer ... 3 ... TAXATION. State may tax stock of foreign corporation owned by ... residents; "personal ... Willis J. Barnes, sheriff and tax collector, against Henry T ... Jones. From judgment sustaining separate demurrers to count ... St. 168, 56 N.E. 295; Kidd v ... Alabama, 47 L.Ed. 669; Darnell v. Ind., 226 ... U.S. 390, 57 L.Ed. 267; Hawley v. Malden, 232 U.S ... ...
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    • U.S. Supreme Court
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    ...since that time. Compare Standard Stock Food Co. v. Wright, 225 U.S. 540, 550, 32 S.Ct. 784, 56 L.Ed. 1197; Darnell v. Indiana, 226 U.S. 390, 398, 33 S.Ct. 120, 57 L.Ed. 267; Roberts & Schaefer Co. v. Emmerson, 271 U.S. 50, 54, 55, 46 S.Ct. 375, 70 L.Ed. 827, 45 A.L.R. 1495; Liberty Warehou......
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1 firm's commentaries
  • United States Supreme Court Seals Taxpayer Victory in Farmer Bros
    • United States
    • Mondaq United States
    • April 27, 2004
    ...equal treatment when a credit is allowed for payment of in-state or out-of-state taxes by a third party," id. (citing Darnell v. Indiana, 226 U.S. 390 (1912)), less than a year later, the Court resolved any ambiguity this limitation might have created by holding that Darnell was "no longer ......

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