D. H. Holmes Co., Ltd. v. McNamara, Secretary of Revenue and Taxation of Louisiana

Decided May 16, 1988. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-267 · 486 U.S. 24 (1988) · Cited 172 times

Holding

The application of Louisiana's use tax to appellant's catalogs does not violate the Commerce Clause.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“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.

• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• National Geographic Society v. California Board of Equalization · 430 U.S. 551 (1977)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Wardair Canada Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue · 477 U.S. 1 (1986)
• Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vt. · 445 U.S. 425 (1980)
• Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana · 453 U.S. 609 (1981)
• National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue · 386 U.S. 753 (1967)
• Department of Revenue v. Ass'n of Washington Stevedoring Companies · 435 U.S. 734 (1978)
• Memphis Natural Gas Co. v. Stone · 335 U.S. 80 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Oklahoma Tax Commission v. Jefferson Lines, Inc. · 514 U.S. 175 (1995)
• Quill Corp. v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Heitkamp · 504 U.S. 298 (1992)
• Goldberg v. Sweet · 488 U.S. 252 (1989)
• South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. · 585 U.S. 162 (2018)
• Amerada Hess Corp. v. Director, Division of Taxation, New Jersey Department of the Treasury · 490 U.S. 66 (1989)
• American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Michigan Public Service Commission · 545 U.S. 429 (2005)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). 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).