Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/245/292.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 11:10:52+00:00

Document:
As in other cases of this character, we accept the decision of the state court of last resort respecting the proper construction of the statute, but are in duty bound to determine the questions raised under the federal Constitution upon our own judgment of the actual operation and effect of the tax, irrespective of the form it bears or how it is characterized by the state courts. Galveston, Harrisburg, etc., Ry. Co. v. Texas, 210 U.S. 217, 227 , 28 S. Sup. Ct. 638; St. Louis S. W. Ry. v. Arkansas, 235 U.S. 350, 362 , 35 S. Sup. Ct. 99; Kansas City Ry. v. Kansas, 240 U.S. 227, 231 , 36 S. Sup. Ct. 261.
That portion of the tax which is measured by the receipts from foreign commerce necessarily varies in proportion to the [245 U.S. 292, 298] volume of that commerce, and hence is a direct burden upon it.
So obvious is the distinction between this tax and those that were sustained in Maine v. Grand Trunk Ry. Co., 142 U.S. 217 , 12 Sup. Ct. 121, 163, U. S. Express Co. v. Minnesota, 223 U.S. 335, 347 , 32 S. Sup. Ct. 211, Baltic Mining Co. v. Massachusetts, 231 U.S. 68, 87 , 34 S. Sup. Ct. 15, Kansas City Ry. v. Kansas, 240 U.S. 227, 232 , 235 S., 36 Sup. Ct. 261, and some other cases of the same class, that no time need be spent upon it.
[ Footnote 1 ] 'Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That from and after the passage of this act, each retail vender of or retail dealer in goods, wares and merchandise shall pay an annual mercantile license tax of two dollars, and all persons so engaged shall pay one mill additional on each dollar of the whole volume, gross, of business transacted annually. Each wholesale vender of or wholesale dealer in goods, wares and merchandise shall pay an annual mercantile license tax of three dollars, and all persons so engaged shall pay one-half mill additional on each dollar of the whole volume, gross, of business transacted annually. Each dealer in or vender of goods, wares or merchandise at any exchange or board of trade shall pay a mercantile license tax of twenty-five cents on each thousand dollar worth, gross, of goods so sold.
[ Footnote 2 ] Literally, the objection was that a tax based upon the gross receipts for merchandise shipped to foreign countries would be 'a tax levied by the United States of America upon commerce with foreign nations, in violation of article 1, section 8, of the Constitution of the United States, and would also be an impost or duty on exports levied by the state of Pennsylvania without the authority of an act of Congress in violation of aricle 1, section 10, of the Constitution of the United States.' The description of the tax as 'levied by the United States of America' evidently was a slip, and so understood by both courts, as appears from the opinion of the court of common pleas (unreported), of which only the conclusion is quoted in the opinion of the Supreme Court.

References: v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.