Court Case: Goldberg v. Sweet

Question 1

What parties were involved in the case?

Answer 1

1. Goldberg (class action lawsuit)
2. Sweet (IL DOR)
3. US Supreme Court

Question 2

What year did the case take place in?

Answer 2

1989

Question 3

What were the facts of the case?

Answer 3

• IL had a law that taxed phone calls that were originated or terminated in the state and charged to an Illinois service address.
• IL gave credit for tax paid to another state to prevent double taxation

Question 4

What was the decision of the case?

Answer 4

The Supreme Court said that the tax was fair because it was based on where the phone call was charged, not where it went. In addition, it didn’t violate the commerce clause and it met all 4 prongs.

Question 5

What was the significance of this case?

Answer 5

It established the 2 out of 3 rule for telecom services. (call origination, call destination, and service address of the equipment)