Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Jefferson Lines, Inc., 514 U.S. 175, 26 (1995)

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200

OKLAHOMA TAX COMM'N v. JEFFERSON LINES, INC.

Scalia, J., concurring in judgment

ices from which it arguably receives no direct "benefit." ' " Goldberg, supra, at 267, quoting Commonwealth Edison, supra, at 627, n. 16 (emphasis in original). The bus terminal may not catch fire during the sale, and no robbery there may be foiled while the buyer is getting his ticket, but police and fire protection, along with the usual and usually forgotten advantages conferred by the State's maintenance of a civilized society, are justifications enough for the imposition of a tax. See Goldberg, supra, at 267. Complete Auto's fourth criterion asks only that the measure of the tax be reasonably related to the taxpayer's presence or activities in the State. See Commonwealth Edison, supra, at 626, 629. What we have already said shows that demand to be satisfied here. The tax falls on the sale that takes place wholly inside Oklahoma and is measured by the value of the service purchased.

IV

Oklahoma's tax on the sale of transportation services does not contravene the Commerce Clause. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, accordingly, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Justice Scalia, with whom Justice Thomas joins, concurring in the judgment.

I agree with the Court's conclusion that Oklahoma's sales tax does not facially discriminate against interstate commerce. See ante, at 198-199. That seems to me the most we can demand to certify compliance with the "negative Commerce Clause"—which is "negative" not only because it negates state regulation of commerce, but also because it does not appear in the Constitution. See Amerada Hess Corp. v. Director, Div. of Taxation, N. J. Dept. of Treasury, 490 U. S. 66, 80 (1989) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment); Tyler Pipe Industries, Inc. v. Washington State Dept. of

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