Source: http://openjurist.org/338/us/251
Timestamp: 2014-10-23 13:47:28
Document Index: 286105279

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 72', '§ 301', '§ 813', '§ 813', '§ 72', '§ 72', '§ 72']

338 US 251 Treichler v. State of Wisconsin | OpenJurist
338 U.S. 251 - Treichler v. State of Wisconsin	Home338 us 251 treichler v. state of wisconsin
338 US 251 Treichler v. State of Wisconsin 338 U.S. 251
70 S.Ct. 1
94 L.Ed. 37
TREICHLERv.STATE OF WISCONSIN.
Mr. Harold H. Persons, Madison, Wis., for appellee.
This is an appeal from a decision of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, 254 Wis. 24, 35 N.W.2d 404, arising from an order of the County Court of Milwaukee County, levying certain death taxes on the estate of Fred A. Miller, deceased, under the applicable statutes of Wisconsin. The question for decision is the validity of the Wisconsin emergency tax on inheritances, § 72.74(2), Wis.Stat.1947, when tested in the light of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The decedent died testate on December 19, 1943, a resident of Wisconsin. At death his gross estate was $7,849,714.84. Property located in Wisconsin was valued at $6,869,778.61; the remainder of $979,936.23 consisted of real and tangible personal property situated in the States of Illinois and Florida.1
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue assessed net federal taxes against the estate in the sum of $3,076,131.19, inclusive of the 80% of the basic federal tax subject to credit for state estate taxes as provided by § 301(b) of the United States Revenue Act of 1926, 44 Stat. 70, as amended, 26 U.S.C. § 813(b), 26 U.S.C.A. § 813(b). This 80% credit was the sum of $630,709.62.
The normal Wisconsin inheritance tax, as levied by §§ 72.01 to 72.24, Wis.Stat.1947, was in this case $220,682.12. It is levied only on property within the State of Wisconsin and is not in controversy here.
To take advantage of the credit provisions of the Revenue Act of 1926, the Wisconsin legislature also enacted an estate tax in the amount of 80% of the basic federal tax subject to credit, less 'the aggregate amount of all estates, inheritance, transfer, legacy and succession taxes paid to any state or territory or the District of Columbia, in respect to any property in the estate of said decedent.' § 72.50, Wis.Stat.1947. Wisconsin normal inheritance taxes as well as out-of-state taxes are deducted from the federal credit. The estate tax on this estate was computed at $352,701.79. However, this provision of the Wisconsin statutes is not under explicit attack here.
The only statute, the validity of which is involved in this appeal, is § 72.74(2) of the Wisconsin statutes known as the Emergency Tax on Inheritances. The section under scrutiny provides: 'In addition to the taxes imposed by sections 72.01 to 72.24 and 72.50 to 72.61, an emergency tax for relief purposes, rehabilitation of returning veterans of World War II, construction and improvements at state institutions and other state property and for post-war public works projects to relieve post-war unemployment is hereby imposed upon all transfers of property which