General Motors Corporation v. Roger W. Tracy, Tax Commissioner of Ohio (519 U.S. 278)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 18, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 519 U.S. 278 · 117 S. Ct. 811
- Decided
- February 18, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1996
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. The State of Ohio imposes its general sales and use taxes on natural gas purchases from all sellers, whether in-state or out-of-state, except regulated public utilities that meet Ohio’s statutory definition of a “natural gas company.” The question here is whether this difference in tax treatment between sales of gas by domestic utilities subject to regulation and sales of gas by other entities violates the Commerce Clause or Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. We hold that it does not. I During the tax period at issue, Ohio levied a 5% tax on the in-state sales of goods, including natural gas, see Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§5739.02, 5739.025 (Supp. 1990), and it imposed a parallel 5% use tax on goods purchased out-of-state for use in Ohio. See §5741.02 (1986). Local jurisdictions were authorized to levy certain additional taxes that increased these sales and use tax rates to as much as 7% in some municipalities. See §5739.025 (Supp. 1990); Reply Brief for Petitioner 13, n. 11. Since 1935, when Ohio’s first sales and use taxes were imposed, the State has exempted natural gas sales by “natural gas companies]” from all state and local sales taxes. § 5739.02(B)(7). Under Ohio law, “[a]ny person . . . [i]s a natural gas company when engaged in the business of supplying natural gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes to…
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