National Muffler Dealers Assn., Inc. v. United States

Decided March 20, 1979. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-1172 · 440 U.S. 472 (1979) · Cited 544 times

Holding

Petitioner is not entitled to the tax exemption as a "business league" within the meaning of 501(c)(6).

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 6–3.

“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.

• United States v. Correll · 389 U.S. 299 (1967)
• Commissioner v. South Texas Lumber Co. · 333 U.S. 496 (1948)
• Fulman v. United States · 434 U.S. 528 (1978)
• United States v. Cartwright · 411 U.S. 546 (1973)
• Bingler v. Johnson · 394 U.S. 741 (1969)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Helvering v. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. · 306 U.S. 110 (1939)
• Helvering v. Winmill · 305 U.S. 79 (1938)
• United States v. Moore · 95 U.S. 760 (1878)
• Helvering v. Wilshire Oil Co. · 308 U.S. 90 (1939)
• United States v. Leslie Salt Co. · 350 U.S. 383 (1956)

Cited by

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

• Rowan Cos. v. United States · 452 U.S. 247 (1981)
• United States v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co. · 532 U.S. 200 (2001)
• United States v. Vogel Fertilizer Co. · 455 U.S. 16 (1982)
• Commissioner v. Tufts · 461 U.S. 300 (1983)
• Commissioner v. Engle · 464 U.S. 206 (1984)
• Cottage Savings Assn. v. Commissioner · 499 U.S. 554 (1991)
• Commissioner v. Portland Cement Co. of Utah · 450 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Newark Morning Ledger Co. v. United States · 507 U.S. 546 (1993)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). 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).