Lanco Inc.: The Commerce Clause and State Income Taxes

Abstract

The author criticizes the New Jersey Tax Court's decision in Lanco Inc., saying the court did not specify how interstate commerce was unduly burdened by taxing a trademark holding company. The undue burden in Quill, if any, was based on the compliance burden placed on out-of-state vendors that had no physical presence in the taxing state, the author says. No such burden exists in Lanco, he writes.