ACF Industries, Inc. v. Comptroller of the Treasury

The Maryland Tax Court held ACF Industries, Inc. liable for sales taxes on tangible personal property it sold when it closed out two divisions through which it was conducting ventures in businesses different in kind from its principal businesses, and the Circuit Court affirmed.

ACF, a New Jersey corporation with headquarters in New York City, manufactures and leases railroad cars and manufactures and sells carburetors, fuel pumps and valves. Some years ago it became a victim of the epidemic of corporate diversification fever — indeed, the fever began to approach the conglomerate stage — and…