Merchants' Warehouse Co. v. McClain
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Pennsylvania
Sur rule for judgment non obstante veredicto on reserved point. Action at law to recover of the defendant, as collector of internal revenue, stamp taxes paid under protest.
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Sur rule for judgment non obstante veredicto on reserved point. Action at law to recover of the defendant, as collector of internal revenue, stamp taxes paid under protest. At the trial the jury found for the plaintiff, subject to the following point reserved by the court in the nature of a special verdict- “It being the undisputed evidence that the internal revenue taxes, amounting to §1,125.50, for which recovery is sought in this action, were assessed by the commissioner of internal revenue in Aug ' t;, 1900, against the plaintiff, the Merchants’ Warehouse Company of Philadelphia, then and…
1Opinion of the Court
ARCHBALD, District Judge.1
Where a tax is imposed on - documents of a special character, to determine whether a. stamp is required in any given case the form of the document is to be looked to, rather than the transaction of which it is a part. Or, as tersely put by the learned counsel for the plaintiffs, stamps are imposed, not on transactions, but on documents. In line with this it was held in U. S. v. Isham, 17 Wall. 496, 21 L. Ed. 728, that whatever, on its face, the instrument purports to be, that it is for the purpose of ascertaining the stamp to be affixed to it, which is not to be…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- United States v. IshamSupreme Court of the United States · 1873
- Granby Mercantile Co. v. WebsterU.S. Circuit Court for the District of South Carolina · 1899
- Harris v. BradleyU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Nebraska · 1872
3Cited by4 opinions
- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. United StatesSupreme Court of the United States · 1927
- Danville Building Ass'n v. PickeringDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois · 1923
- McClain v. Merchants' Warehouse Co.Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 1902
- Central States Life Ins. v. SheehanDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri · 1940