NATIONAL BELLAS HESS, INC. v. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, 386 U.S. 753

Summary

The taxpayer was a mail order house and did not maintain a place of business, had no representatives, and owned no property, real or personal, in the state. The taxpayer also did not have a telephone listing and did not advertise its merchandise in the state. All of the taxpayer's contacts with the state were via the United States mail or common carrier. The state supreme court held that the taxpayer was required to collect and pay to the State use taxes imposed by Ill. Rev. Stat. ch. 120, § 439.3 (1965). On appeal, the court reversed. The court held that the nature of the taxpayer's business was purely interstate, and, therefore, was exclusively within Congress' power to regulate under the Commerce Clause.