Felix Frankfurter

“ We do not remotely imply that the burden is on the taxing authorities to sustain the constitutionality of a tax. But where the power to tax is not unlimited, validity is not established by the mere imposition of a tax. ”

“ The Tax Commissioner relied on the higher cost of enforcing the license law against nonresident fishermen to justify the difference in fees, and the District Court found that 90% of the cost of enforcement was incurred in collecting the fees from nonresidents. ”

“ What evidence we have negatives the idea of any such relation, for the total amount payable by nonresident fishermen in 1949-1950, in excess of what they would have been charged if they had been residents, may easily have exceeded the entire amount abailable for administration of the Tax Commissioner's office in that year. [1] Constitutional issues affecting taxation do not turn on even approximate mathematical determinations. But something more is required than bald assertion to establish a reasonable relation between the higher fees and the higher cost to the Territory. ”