direct tax
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 326 U.S. 340 - Fernandez v. Wiener · 1945Most cited · 420 citing opinions
A tax imposed upon the exercise of some of the numerous rights of property is clearly distinguishable from a direct tax, which falls upon the owner merely because he is owner, regardless of his use or disposition of the property.
How the Supreme Court has restated “direct tax”
Each Supreme Court definition of “direct tax,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “direct tax”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “direct tax” — 884 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 4 definitions, chronological · 1796–1945
- ORIGINAL
Perhaps a direct tax in the sense of the Constitution, can mean nothing but a tax on something inseparably annexed to the soil: Something capable of apportionment under all such circumstances. A land or a poll tax may be considered of this description.
in the sense of the Constitution
the direct taxes contemplated by the Constitution, are only two, to wit, a capitation, or poll tax, simply, without regard to property, profession, or any other circumstance; and a tax on LAND.
under the Constitution
taxes levied upon or collected from persons because of their general ownership of property may be taken to be direct