Dameron v. Brodhead

Background

A United States Air Force officer was assigned to Lowry Field near Denver in 1948 and lived in a privately rented apartment there. Denver’s acting Manager of Revenue assessed a $23.51 tax on his personal property, mostly household goods, which he valued at $460. He paid the tax under protest and sued, claiming section 514 of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act forbade the tax. The trial court ruled for the officer, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed, and the United States Supreme Court reviewed the case.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the 1942 statute, as amended in 1944, prevents a state from treating a servicemember’s personal property as located for taxation where he is temporarily stationed. The majority read the statute’s plain words broadly: personal property “shall not be deemed to be located or present in or to have a situs for taxation” in the state of temporary presence. The Court upheld the statute under federal power to organize and support the armed forces, rejected a limitation requiring actual multiple taxation, and held that “deemed” does not allow a rebuttal that would nullify the protection.

Real world impact

This ruling prevents states from taxing servicemembers’ personal property solely because the servicemember is stationed in the state, and it leaves the right to tax with the servicemember’s state of residence even if that state does not tax. The decision clarifies tax treatment for military personnel stationed away from home, though it does not resolve every tax question for different facts.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Douglas, joined by Justice Black, dissented, stressing states’ basic power to tax and arguing that Congress has no authority to create broad tax immunities for private affairs of servicemembers, such as wages and personal property.