Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue

delivered the opinion of the Court. †

This case presents the question of a State’s power to impose a special tax on the press and, by enacting exemptions, to limit its effect to only a few newspapers.

*577I

Since 1967, Minnesota has imposed a sales tax on most sales of goods for a price in excess of a nominal sum.1 Act of June 1, 1967, ch. 32, Art. XIII, § 2, 1967 Minn. Laws 2143, 2179, codified at Minn. Stat. §297A.02 (1982). In general, the tax applies only to retail sales. Ibid. An exemption for industrial and agricultural users shields from the tax sales of components to be used in the…