Diamond National Corp. v. State Board of Equalization

Mr. Justice Stevens, with whom Mr. Justice Rehnquist joins,

dissenting.

Appellants contend that California may not impose its sales tax on the sale of printed forms and other tangibles to Crocker-Citizens National Bank because the legal incidence of the tax falls upon a federal instrumentality. The California Court of Appeal, applying a construction of the California statute that has been consistently followed for over 40 years, held that the legal incidence of the tax falls upon the vendor rather than the purchaser.1

*269Since the case involves a federal claim of immunity from state taxation, we…