Jefferson County v. Acker, 527 U.S. 423, 33 (1999)

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Cite as: 527 U. S. 423 (1999)

Opinion of Breyer, J.

The second statute upon which the county relies, the Buck Act, presents a more difficult question. It says:

"No person shall be relieved from liability for any income tax levied by any State, or by any duly constituted taxing authority therein . . . by reason of his residing within a federal area or receiving income from transactions occurring or services performed in such area; and such . . . taxing authority shall have full jurisdiction and power to levy and collect such tax in any Federal area . . . to the same extent and with the same effect as though such area was not a Federal area." 4 U. S. C. § 106(a).

A special definitional provision, which applies through cross-reference to the Buck Act (but not to the Public Salary Tax Act) defines the term "income tax" broadly to include "any tax . . . measured by . . . income, or . . . gross receipts." § 110(c). And in Howard v. Commissioners of Sinking Fund of Louisville, 344 U. S. 624, 628-629 (1953), this Court held that a city's "license fee" measured by income and levied on employees working at a federal plant fell within this definition.

Nonetheless, the Buck Act does not apply here. Congress passed the Buck Act in 1940 because it was uncertain whether the consent to taxation provided in the 1939 Public Salary Tax Act would extend to income taxes on those who lived or worked in federal areas; Congress feared that these taxes would be barred for a special reason—namely, that States might lack jurisdiction to apply their laws to those who lived or worked in such areas. See S. Rep. No. 1625, 76th Cong., 3d Sess., 3 (1940). Consequently, the Buck Act's language consents to nothing. Rather, it says "[n]o person shall be relieved" of liability for "any income tax" by virtue of a particular circumstance, specifically, "by reason of" that person's "residing within a Federal area" or his "receiving income from transactions occurring or services performed"

455

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