Container Corporation of America v. Franchise Tax Board

Decided June 27, 1983. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-523 · 463 U.S. 159 (1983) · Cited 579 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Japan Line, Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles · 441 U.S. 434 (1979)
• Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vt. · 445 U.S. 425 (1980)
• Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. Bair · 437 U.S. 267 (1978)
• Underwood Typewriter Co. v. Chamberlain · 254 U.S. 113 (1920)
• ASARCO Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Commission · 458 U.S. 307 (1982)
• Butler Bros. v. McColgan, Franchise Tax Commissioner · 315 U.S. 501 (1942)
• Exxon Corp. v. Department of Revenue of Wis. · 447 U.S. 207 (1980)
• Hans Rees' Sons, Inc. v. North Carolina Ex Rel. Maxwell · 283 U.S. 123 (1931)
• Norton Co. v. Department of Revenue of Ill. · 340 U.S. 534 (1951)
• FW Woolworth Co. v. Taxation and Revenue Dept. of NM · 458 U.S. 354 (1982)
• Wisconsin v. J. C. Penney Co. · 311 U.S. 435 (1941)
• Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton, Ltd. v. State Tax Commission · 266 U.S. 271 (1924)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Corn Products Refining Co. v. Commissioner · 350 U.S. 46 (1955)
• Bowman v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. · 125 U.S. 465 (1888)
• General Motors Corp. v. Washington · 377 U.S. 436 (1964)
• J. D. Adams Manufacturing Co. v. Storen · 304 U.S. 307 (1938)
• Michelin Tire Corp. v. Wages · 423 U.S. 276 (1976)
• Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Missouri State Tax Commission · 390 U.S. 317 (1968)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Beauchamp · 308 U.S. 331 (1940)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Barclays Bank PLC v. Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. · 512 U.S. 298 (1994)
• Allied-Signal, Inc. Ex Rel. Bendix Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation · 504 U.S. 768 (1992)
• Trinova Corp. v. Michigan Department of Treasury · 498 U.S. 358 (1991)
• Goldberg v. Sweet · 488 U.S. 252 (1989)
• Amerada Hess Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation, New Jersey Department of the Treasury · 490 U.S. 66 (1989)
• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Jefferson Lines, Inc. · 514 U.S. 175 (1995)
• Tyler Pipe Industries, Inc. v. Washington State Department of Revenue · 483 U.S. 232 (1987)
• Kraft General Foods, Inc. v. Iowa Department of Revenue & Finance · 505 U.S. 71 (1992)
• Armco Inc. v. Hardesty · 467 U.S. 638 (1984)
• Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v. Wynne · 575 U.S. 542 (2015)
• Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council · 530 U.S. 363 (2000)
• Zadvydas v. Davis · 533 U.S. 678 (2001)
• Abbott v. Abbott · 560 U.S. 1 (2010)
• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Scheiner · 483 U.S. 266 (1987)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Alcan Aluminium Ltd. · 493 U.S. 331 (1990)
• Westinghouse Electric Corp. v. Tully · 466 U.S. 388 (1984)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).