Orr v. Gilman

Citations

• 183 U.S. 278
• 22 S. Ct. 213
• 46 L. Ed. 196
• 1902 U.S. LEXIS 718

Syllabus

<p>The provisions of subdivision 5 of the tax law of the State of New York, which became a law April 16,1897, are not in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, nor of section 10 of article 1 of the Constitution.</p> <p>The opinion in Carpenter v. Pennsylvania, 17 How. 456, although decided before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, correctly defines the limits of jurisdiction between the State and the Federal governments, in respect to the control of the estates of decedents, both as they'were regarded before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, and have since been regarded.</p> <p>The holding of the Court of Appeals of New York, that it was the execution of the power of appointment which subjected grantees under it to the transfer tax, is binding upon this court.</p> <p>'The Court of Appeals did not err when it held that a transfer or succession tax, not being a direct tax upon property, but a charge upon a privilege, exercised' or enjoyed-under the laws of thé State, does not, when imposed in cases where the property passing consists of securities exempt by statute, impair the obligation of a contract within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States.</p> <p>The view of the Court of Appeals in this case must be accepted by this court as an accurate statement of the law of the State.</p>