Iannelli v. Long

OPINION

WEIS, District Judge.

American preoccupation with due process and taxation goes back to the gestation of the Republic. It is not a purely historic interest but a continuing one because the harsh realities of the necessity of collecting revenue and the natural reluctance of the citizen to pay over to the government that which he considers his own has resulted in some rather arbitrary statutory methods of extracting that which is due Caesar.

There is no doubt that Congress has the right to tax an occupation which in and of itself is illegal. But when collection methods and timing become…