Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Miller v. Standard Nut Margarine Co. of Fla.

Miller v. Standard Nut Margarine Co. of Fla., 284 U.S. 498 (1932)

Type
Opinion
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1932-02-15
Topic
general

How later courts describe this case

  • noting that ambiguities as to the meaning of the tax statute are interpreted in favor of the taxpayer
  • “The principal 24 reason [for the act] is that,…such suits would…interfere with and thwart the collection of 25 revenues for the support of the government.”

Citator

UpLaw has not yet analyzed Miller v. Standard Nut Margarine Co. of Fla.. The absence of a flag is not a finding that it is good law.

Cited by
418 opinions

Headnotes

  1. Tax Law — Suits to Restrain Collection A suit to restrain the collection of an excise imposed under the Oleomargarine Act is a suit to restrain the collection of a tax within the meaning of R.S. § 3224, not a suit to collect a penalty, and the rule that § 3224 does not extend to suits restraining collection of penalties does not apply. 284 U.S. at 506
  2. Tax Law — Construction of Taxing Statutes Tax laws are to be interpreted liberally in favor of taxpayers; words defining things to be taxed may not be extended beyond their clear import, and doubts must be resolved against the Government and in favor of the taxpayer. 284 U.S. at 508
  3. Tax Law — Statutory Construction — R.S. § 3224 R.S. § 3224 is declaratory of the equitable rule that a suit will not lie to restrain the collection of a tax upon the sole ground of its illegality, and it should be construed as nearly as may be in harmony with that rule and the reasons upon which it rests. 284 U.S. at 509
  4. Tax Law — Injunction Against Collection — Exceptional Circumstances The general language of R.S. § 3224 is not sufficient to abrogate, by implication, the well-established equitable principle permitting a suit to restrain the collection of a tax where, in addition to the illegality of the exaction, there exist special and extraordinary circumstances sufficient to bring the case within some acknowledged head of equity jurisprudence. 284 U.S. at 509
  5. Tax Law — Oleomargarine Act — Scope of Taxable Substances Prior to the Amendment of July 10, 1930, the Oleomargarine Tax Act did not apply to substances resembling butter but containing no animal fat; a product made exclusively of cocoanut and peanut oils, salt, water, and harmless coloring matter, and sold for cooking, baking, and seasoning, was not taxable as oleomargarine. 284 U.S. at 506, 508
  6. Administrative Law — Arbitrary and Capricious Review Where a taxpayer manufactured and sold a product in reliance upon prior judicial decisions and Treasury rulings that the product was not taxable, and the Commissioner later changed his ruling and directed enforcement of the tax against the taxpayer's entire product while not attempting to collect from other makers of like products who had obtained final injunctions, the Commissioner's action was not only based upon an erroneous construction of the statute but was arbitrary and capricious, and the taxpayer was entitled to an injunction restraining collection; the enforcement of the tax would have destroyed the business, ruined the taxpayer financially, and inflicted a loss without remedy at law. 284 U.S. at 508, 510