Abbott v. United States

This case is before us pursuant to House Resolution No. 323, August 22,1957, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., referring to this court a bill, H.R. 8758. Such a reference is authorized by sections 1492 and 2509 of Title 28 of the United States Code.

The question is whether the plaintiffs, operators of fishing boats on the coast of Florida, should have been required to pay a Federal transportation tax upon the amounts which they collected from their customers when they took them on fishing excursions, or when they chartered boats to customers for fishing.

Section 3469 of Title 26, U.S.C., which imposed a…