Beuttell v. Magone, 1894, is a U.S Supreme Court case that revolved around the issue of import duties on sugar. The plaintiff, Beuttell imported sugars from abroad and was charged with an import duty by the defendant, Magone who was a collector for the Port of New York. Beuttell disputed this charge arguing that under section 2502 of Revised Statutes which states "all sugars above No.13 Dutch standard in color shall pay duty on their polariscopic test", his sugar should not be subjected to any additional charges as it did not exceed No.16 Dutch standard in color or have more than 90 degrees polarization. The court ruled against Beuttell stating that despite its physical characteristics (color), if the sugar has over 90 degrees polarization it must be classified as above No.13 Dutch standard hence subject to import duties according to section 2502 regardless of its actual color classification being below No .16 Dutch Standard.

In the dissenting opinion for Beuttell v. Magone, Justice Brewer argued that the tax in question was not a duty on imports but rather an internal revenue tax. He contended that it was imposed upon all fermented liquors brewed or manufactured and sold within the United States, regardless of whether they were imported or domestically produced. Therefore, he believed it should be considered as part of general taxation and not specifically targeted at import goods. Furthermore, he pointed out that if this tax were to be regarded as a duty on imports simply because some portion might come from abroad, then virtually every internal revenue law could potentially fall under this category - which would contradict previous court rulings and interpretations of what constitutes an 'import'. In his view, such broad interpretation could lead to significant confusion and inconsistency in future cases concerning taxation laws.