Opinion ID: 1179409
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the tax is fairly apportioned.

Text: The pipeline companies argue that the apportionment is unequal because the Oklahoma income tax code provides for a tax credit. Apportionment as used in Complete Auto, means that the tax is assessed only on the portion of activity in the taxing state with slight or no possibility that multiple taxation will occur. In this case, Oklahoma is the only state which can tax the severance, and it taxes only the natural gas actually severed. The pipeline companies contend that the tax discriminates against interstate commerce because under the tax formula 80% of the gas taxed is piped to other states. However, like Commonwealth Edison, the tax is computed at the same rate regardless of the final destination of the gas. There is no suggestion that the tax is administered in a manner departing from this evenhanded formula. Therefore, the tax is not discriminatory.