MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue
Case Date: 07/10/2025
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MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Dept. of Revenue, 553 U.S. 16 (2008) is a United States Supreme Court case concerning the extent a state may tax companies that are not based in their state.
Mead, a corporation based out of Ohio, owned Lexis-Nexis, which was based out of Illinois. Mead sold Lexis, and Illinois maintained that Mead must pay them a proportionate capital-gains tax. Illinois asserted that Mead and Lexis were integrated to the extent required for the "unitary business rule". This rule allowed states to tax a proportionate share of the value generated by an interstate corporation.
The Supreme Court held that the two businesses were not integrated enough to be considered a "unitary business" and Illinois was not allowed to tax Mead on the Lexis sale.
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