Cite as: 516 U. S. 325 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
Fulton's intangibles tax liability for the 1990 tax year amounted to $10,884. It paid the tax and brought this action in state court under Rev. Stat. § 1979, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 1983, seeking a declaratory judgment that the scheme based on the taxable percentage deduction violated the Commerce Clause by discriminating against interstate commerce. Fulton also sought a refund under the terms of the appropriate state statute, N. C. Gen. Stat. § 105-267 (1992), and attorney's fees under Rev. Stat. § 722, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 1988. On the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, the state trial court ruled in favor of the Secretary.
On appeal, North Carolina's Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the taxable percentage deduction violated the Commerce Clause. Fulton Corp. v. Justus, 110 N. C. App. 493, 430 S. E. 2d 494 (1993). The Court of Appeals saw a facial discrimination against shareholders in out-of-state corporations in forcing them to pay tax on a higher percentage of share value than shareholders of corporations operating solely in North Carolina. Id., at 499, 430 S. E. 2d, at 498. The court rejected the Secretary's contention that the intangibles tax amounted to a valid "compensating tax" designed to place a burden on interstate commerce equal to what intrastate commerce already carried under the corporate income tax. Id., at 499-501, 430 S. E. 2d, at 498-499. Finally, the Court of Appeals distinguished this Court's decision in Darnell v. Indiana, 226 U. S. 390 (1912), which held that Indiana could tax the stock of foreign corporations to the extent that those corporations were not subject to the State's tax on in-state property. Because the tax regime in Darnell was constructed to avoid the double taxation of corporate property values, a result not accomplished by North Carolina's intangibles tax, the Court of Appeals did not view Dar-nell as being on point. 110 N. C. App., at 501-504, 430 S. E. 2d, at 499-501. The court refused Fulton any retrospective relief, however, and held the proper remedy to be elimination
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