In the 1935 case Becker Steel Company of America v. Cummings, Attorney General, et al., the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a challenge to a tax imposed by Congress on companies that processed coal into coke. The Becker Steel Company argued that this tax was unconstitutional as it violated their Fifth Amendment rights against taking private property for public use without just compensation and also infringed upon their due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the court ruled in favor of Cummings, upholding the constitutionality of such taxes. The justices reasoned that since these taxes were levied not only on those who sold but also those who used coke for further manufacturing processes (like Becker), they did not constitute an unlawful taking or violate due process rights because they were part of Congress's broad power to levy excise taxes.

In the dissenting opinion for Becker Steel Company of America v. Cummings, Attorney General, et al., it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a tax on capital stock imposed by Pennsylvania law was inconsistent with previous rulings and principles established by the Court. The dissenting justices contended that this tax should be considered as an income tax rather than a property or franchise tax because its amount is determined based on net income from all sources. They pointed out that in prior cases where similar taxes were levied based on total assets without regard to their source or location, such taxes were deemed unconstitutional due to violating interstate commerce laws. By upholding this particular levy despite its similarity to those previously invalidated ones, they believed the court had departed from established precedent without sufficient justification.