12 U.S.C. § 531
Section 531 · Exemption from taxation
This is § 7 of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case Rohr Aircraft Corporation v. County of San Diego (1960)
Most recently applied in United States v. Timothy Ward (August 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Federal reserve banks, including the capital stock and surplus therein and the income derived therefrom, shall be exempt from Federal, State, and local taxation, except taxes upon real estate.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section is comprised of subsec. (c) [formerly third undesignated par.] of section 7 of act Dec. 23, 1913. Subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 7 are classified to sections 289 and 290, respectively, of this title.
Amendments
1993—Pub. L. 103–66 inserted section catchline.
Cross References
United States obligations and evidences of ownership as subject to Federal taxation, see section 3124 of Title 31, Money and Finance.