Quad Graphics, Inc. v. N.C. Dep't of Revenue
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the business court concluding that the sales of printed materials produced by Petitioner, which was based in Wisconsin, out of state and shipped to its North Carolina customers and their designees lacked a sufficient nexus to North Carolina for the imposition of state sales tax, holding that the business court erred.
At issue on appeal was whether the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in McLeod v. J.E. Dilworth Co., 322 U.S. 327 (1944), remained controlling precedent or if subsequent Supreme Court decisions provided an alternative method for determining the constitutionality of North Carolina's sales tax regime. The Supreme Court held (1) the formalism doctrine established in Dilworth did not survive the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in Complete Auto Transit Inc. v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274 (1977) and South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 138 S. Ct. 2080 (2018) so as to render the sales tax regime of North Carolina in violation of the Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause; and (2) North Carolina's imposition of sales tax on the transactions at issue was constitutional under Complete Auto.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.