Massachusetts v. United States

Decided March 29, 1978. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1500 · 435 U.S. 444 (1978) · Cited 207 times

Holding

The registration tax does not violate the implied immunity of a state government from federal taxation.

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 6–2.

“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.

• Helvering v. Gerhardt · 304 U.S. 405 (1938)
• Graves v. New York Ex Rel. O'Keefe · 306 U.S. 466 (1939)
• New York v. United States · 326 U.S. 572 (1946)
• Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority District v. Delta Airlines, Inc. · 405 U.S. 707 (1972)
• Capitol Greyhound Lines v. Brice · 339 U.S. 542 (1950)
• National League of Cities v. Usery · 426 U.S. 833 (1976)
• Metcalf & Eddy v. Mitchell · 269 U.S. 514 (1926)
• Helvering v. Mountain Producers Corp. · 303 U.S. 376 (1938)
• Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon · 260 U.S. 393 (1922)
• Dobbins v. Commissioners of Erie County · 41 U.S. 435 (1842)
• United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• National Cable Television Assn., Inc. v. United States · 415 U.S. 336 (1974)
• United States v. City & County of San Francisco · 310 U.S. 16 (1940)
• Panhandle Oil Co. v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Knox · 277 U.S. 218 (1928)
• Oklahoma v. United States Civil Service Commission · 330 U.S. 127 (1947)
• Willcutts v. Bunn · 282 U.S. 216 (1931)
• Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken · 357 U.S. 275 (1958)
• Fry v. United States · 421 U.S. 542 (1975)
• Ohio v. Helvering · 292 U.S. 360 (1934)
• Indian Motocycle Co. v. United States · 283 U.S. 570 (1931)
• United States v. County of Fresno · 429 U.S. 452 (1977)
• Helvering v. Powers · 293 U.S. 214 (1934)
• Allen v. Regents of the University System · 304 U.S. 439 (1938)
• Aero Mayflower Transit Co. v. Board of Railroad Commissioners · 332 U.S. 495 (1947)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Sperry Corp. · 493 U.S. 52 (1989)
• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Scheiner · 483 U.S. 266 (1987)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
• South Dakota v. Dole · 483 U.S. 203 (1987)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Smith · 496 U.S. 167 (1990)
• United States v. New Mexico · 455 U.S. 720 (1982)
• South Carolina v. Regan · 465 U.S. 367 (1984)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent · 510 U.S. 355 (1994)
• United States v. United States Shoe Corp. · 523 U.S. 360 (1998)
• Aloha Airlines, Inc. v. Director of Taxation of Hawaii · 464 U.S. 7 (1983)
• FCC v. Consumers' Research · 606 U.S. 656 (2025)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1978). 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).