Montana v. United States

The State of Montana imposes a one percent gross receipts tax upon contractors of public, but not private, construction *150projects. Mont. Rev. Codes Ann. §84-3505 (Supp. 1977).1 A public contractor may credit against the gross receipts tax its payments of personal property, corporate income, and individual income taxes.2 Any remaining gross receipts liability is customarily passed on in the form of increased construction costs to the governmental unit financing the project.3 At issue in this appeal is whether a prior judgment by the Montana Supreme Court upholding the tax precludes the United…