MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue

MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 16, 2008
Decided April 15, 2008
Full case nameMeadWestvaco Corp., Successor in Interest to Mead Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, et al.
Docket no.06-1413
Citations553 U.S. 16 (more)
128 S. Ct. 1498; 170 L. Ed. 2d 404
Case history
PriorCertiorari to the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District
Holding
The state courts erred in considering whether Lexis served an "operational purpose" in Mead's business after determining that Lexis and Mead were not unitary.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia
Anthony Kennedy · David Souter
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
MajorityAlito, joined by unanimous court
ConcurrenceThomas

MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue, 553 U.S. 16 (2008), is a United States Supreme Court case concerning the extent a state may tax companies that are not based in their state.[1]

Background

Mead, a corporation based out of Ohio, owned Lexis-Nexis, which was based out of Illinois.[2] Mead sold Lexis, and Illinois maintained that Mead must pay them a proportionate capital-gains tax.[3] Illinois asserted that Mead and Lexis were integrated to the extent required for the "unitary business rule".[4] This rule allowed states to tax a proportionate share of the value generated by an interstate corporation.[5]

Opinion of the Court

In a unanimous opinion written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court held that the two businesses were not integrated enough to be considered a "unitary business" and Illinois was not allowed to tax Mead on the Lexis sale.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue, 553 U.S. 16, 19 (2008).
  2. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp., 553 U.S. at 19-20.
  3. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp., 553 U.S. at 20.
  4. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp., 553 U.S. at 20, 23 (citing Ill. Comp. Stat., ch. 35, § 5/303(a) (West 1994)).
  5. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp., 553 U.S. at 20-21.
  6. ^ MeadWestvaco Corp., 553 U.S. at 30-32.


Stub icon

This article related to the Supreme Court of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.