United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Minnesota v. Blasius, 290 U.S. 1 (1933)

Minnesota v. Blasius

No. 7

Argued October 11, 1933

Decided November 6, 1933

290 U.S. 1

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF MINNESOTA

1. When cattle, consigned from one state to a stock market in another state, had reached that destination and been sold, and were being held in the stockyard pens at the expense of the buyer and subject to his free disposition, they had acquired a situs for local state taxation as the buyer's property, though, in the course of his business, he was offering them for resale, in the same market, when the tax was imposed, and sold them soon afterwards for interstate consignment. Pp. 290 U. S. 6, 290 U. S. 12.

2. The existence of regulatory power in Congress over a current of interstate commerce, including related local transactions in the exchange markets through which the commerce flows, is not inconsistent with the imposition of nondiscriminatory state taxes on goods which, though connected with such current as a general course of business, have come to rest in the state and are held there at the pleasure of their owner for disposal or use when the tax is imposed. Pp. 290 U. S. 8, 290 U. S. 10.

3. The crucial question in such cases is the continuity of transit. This is always a question of substance, and in each case it is necessary to consider the particular occasion or purpose of the interruption during which the tax is sought to be levied. P. 290 U. S. 9.

187 Minn. 420, 245 N.W. 612, reversed.