George Sutherland, Hart Refineries v. Harmon — Opinion of the Court
“ The basis of the tax is the sale of gasoline or distillate, and the statute, in that respect, makes no discrimination, except that it properly excludes from the operation of the tax the imported commodity while it continues subject to the commerce clause of the Constitution. ”
George Sutherland, Hart Refineries v. Harmon — Opinion of the Court
“ The difference between an excise tax based on sales and one based on use of property is obvious and substantial. If the state sees fit to tax one and not the other, there is nothing in the federal Constitution to prevent ”
George Sutherland, Hart Refineries v. Harmon — Opinion of the Court
“ But the contention is that the statute discriminates against the Montana refiner because it is not extended to include gasoline or distillate shipped from other states and consumed or used after it has come to rest in Montana and its status in interstate commerce has ended. Upon this ground the statute is challenged as constituting a denial of the equal protection of the laws, in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution. The Supreme Court of Montana upheld the statute as valid, 81 Mont. ”
