federal instrumentality
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 291 U.S. 17 - Federal Compress & Warehouse Co. v. McLean · 1934Most cited · 212 citing opinions
the appellant, in the enjoyment of the privilege, is engaged in its own behalf, not the government's, in the conduct of a private business for profit. It can no longer be thought that the enjoyment of a privilege conferred by either the national or a state government upon the individual, even though to promote some governmental policy, relieves him from the taxation by the other of his property or business used or carried on in the enjoyment of the privilege or of the profits derived from it
How often courts cite the cases defining “federal instrumentality”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “federal instrumentality” — 317 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 2 definitions, chronological · 1916–1934
- 1916·240 U.S. 319 - Fidelity Deposit Company of Maryland v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania[p9]· cited 108×ORIGINAL
A state may not directly and materially hinder exercise of constitutional powers of the United States by demanding in opposition to the will of Congress that a Federal instrumentality pay a tax for the privilege of performing its functions. But mere contracts between private corporations and the United States do not necessarily render the former essential governmental agencies, and confer freedom from state control.
immunity from state tax