Sorenson v. Secretary of the Treasury et al.

Decided April 22, 1986. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1686 · 475 U.S. 851 (1986) · Cited 355 times

Holding

An excess earned-income credit can properly be intercepted under the applicable statutes.

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 8–1.

“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. Stockholms Enskilda Bank · 293 U.S. 84 (1934)
• Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers, Inc. v. United States · 286 U.S. 427 (1932)

Cited by

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

• Law v. Siegel · 571 U.S. 415 (2014)
• Voisine v. United States · 579 U.S. 686 (2016)
• United Sav. Assn. of Tex. v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd. · 484 U.S. 365 (1988)
• Dewsnup v. Timm · 502 U.S. 410 (1992)
• Barnhart v. Walton · 535 U.S. 212 (2002)
• Reves v. Ernst & Young · 507 U.S. 170 (1993)
• Estate of Cowart v. Nicklos Drilling Co. · 505 U.S. 469 (1992)
• Sullivan v. Stroop · 496 U.S. 478 (1990)
• Commissioner v. Lundy · 516 U.S. 235 (1996)
• Roell v. Withrow · 538 U.S. 580 (2003)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)
• Commissioner v. Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. · 508 U.S. 152 (1993)
• Wisconsin Department of Revenue v. William Wrigley, Jr., Co. · 505 U.S. 214 (1992)

Official text

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

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Harry Andrew Blackmun’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).