Quill Corp. v. North Dakota

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Quill Corp. v. North Dakota

Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 22, 1992
Decided May 26, 1992
Full case name Quill Corporation, Petitioner v. North Dakota by and through its Tax Commissioner, Heidi Heitkamp
Citations 504 U.S. 298 (more)
112 S. Ct. 1904; 119 L. Ed. 2d 91; 1992 U.S. LEXIS 3123; 60 U.S.L.W. 4423; 92 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4458; 92 Daily Journal DAR 7142; 6 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 269
Holding
Appellant won, due to lack of sufficient contacts.
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority Stevens, joined by unanimous (parts I, II, III); Rehnquist, Blackmun, O'Connor, Souter (part IV)
Concurrence Scalia, joined by Kennedy, Thomas
Concur/dissent White

Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992) is a Supreme Court of the United States case concerning use tax. Quill Corporation is an office supply retailer. Quill had no physical presence in North Dakota (neither a sales force, nor a retail outlet),[1] however it did have a licensed computer software program that some of its North Dakota customers used to check Quill's current inventories and place orders directly. North Dakota attempted to impose a use tax on Quill, which was struck down by the Supreme Court.

Contents

[edit] Background

The Tax Commissioner attempted to require Quill to collect and pay over use tax on sales shipped into the state.[2] The North Dakota Supreme Court upheld the statute.

[edit] Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court did not agree with the decision of the state court. North Dakota argued that under due process, Quill had established a presence, as the floppy disks were physically located in their state. For use tax collection purposes, the Supreme Court observed that title to a few floppy diskettes in the state was not sufficient "physical presence" to impose such a test. Barring Congressional action, North Dakota could not impose such a use tax.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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