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McLeod v. J.E. Dilworth Co.

United States Supreme Court
322 U.S. 327, 64 S. Ct. 1023 (1944)

Written by Heather Whittemore, JD

Facts

J. E. Dilworth Co. (Dilworth) (defendant) was a Tennessee corporation that sold machinery and mill supplies. Dilworth solicited orders from Arkansas customers by mail, telephone, or salesmen, and it accepted and shipped the orders from Tennessee. Murray McLeod, the tax collector of Arkansas (plaintiff), sought to impose Arkansas’s sales tax on the sales Dilworth made to Arkansas customers. The Arkansas Supreme Court held that the application of Arkansas’s sales tax to Dilworth’s sales violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution because the sales occurred in Tennessee and were fully taxable in that state. McLeod argued that the sales tax should be sustained because it was similar to a use tax, and a use tax applied by Arkansas on Dilworth’s sales would have been constitutional. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Frankfurter, J.)

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Dissent (Rutledge, J.)

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