Frew v. Bowers

(after stating the facts as above). Consideration of the problem presented seems to require some definition of the nature of the tax imposed. To call it, as it is officially called, an estate tax, does not advance the matter, for the phrase merely indicates the incidence of the charge, not its nature or species.

We think that authority, rather than speculation on the reason of things, must control definition, and we premise by holding that this tax, like any similar burden imposed by the nation rather than a state, is an excise upon the right or privilege (it matters not which word is…