Trump v. Barbara · ¶195

Third, domicile determined which government had the power to impose personal taxes on a person. The power to impose “personal and income taxes” depended on “the party’s domicil.” Wharton Treatise 1872, at 68; see also id., at 34. A sovereign could tax the property in its territory belonging to anyone, but it could impose personal taxes— such as a capitation tax—only on persons domiciled within it. A person “not domiciled, is not within the jurisdiction of the assessors.” Preston v. Boston, 29 Mass. 7, 12 (1831). He “was not liable to taxation in the city for his poll, income and personal property” because “his residence and domicile was not in the city.” Id., at 10; accord, In re Hood’s Estate, 21 Pa. 106, 115 (1853) (describing the “rule” of “great antiquity and of high obligation” that “taxation follows the domicil”). So, while “transient travellers” were “not liable for ordinary…

slip opinion, revised 7/01/26
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