Court Case: D.H. Holmes v. McNamara

Question 1

Who were the parties involved in the case?

Answer 1

1. D.H. (LA department Store)
2. McNamara (LA DOR)
3. US Supreme Court

Question 2

What year did the case take place in?

Answer 2

1988

Question 3

What year did the case take place in?

Answer 3

1988

Question 4

What were the facts of the case?

Answer 4

• DH had offices and sales in LA
• DH used OOS printers to distribute catalogs to LA residents
• LA imposed a use tax on the inbound promotional materials
• DH argued that the catalogs were not taxable because they were not “physically” brought into the state.
• LA’s use tax laws stated that “distribution” was considered “use”

Question 5

What was the decision of the case?

Answer 5

• The tax was approved bc it did not violate the commerce clause and it met all 4 prongs

Question 6

Which tax concept was at the forefront of the case?

Answer 6

Commerce Clause

Question 7

What was the significance of the case?

Answer 7

It opened the door for other states to tax inbound promotional material where printing/mailing occurred outside of the state.