The Dollar Savings Bank v. United States was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1873. The case involved a dispute between the Dollar Savings Bank and the United States government over the bank's right to issue notes. The bank had been authorized by the state of Pennsylvania to issue notes, but the federal government argued that the notes were not legal tender and could not be used to pay taxes. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the bank, holding that the notes were legal tender and could be used to pay taxes. The Court also held that the federal government could not interfere with the state's right to authorize the issuance of notes. This decision was important in establishing the principle of federalism, which holds that the federal government cannot interfere with the rights of the states.

In the case of The Dollar Savings Bank v. United States, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether or not a tax imposed by Congress on national banks was constitutional. The majority opinion held that it was indeed constitutional and thus upheld the tax. However, Justice Field dissented from this ruling and argued that such a tax violated both the letter and spirit of Article I Section 8 Clause 4 of the Constitution which grants Congress power to "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution" its enumerated powers but does not grant them authority to impose taxes beyond those specifically mentioned in other clauses within Article I Section 8. He further argued that if Congress had been granted such broad taxing power then there would have been no need for any other clause granting them specific taxation authority as they could simply use their general taxation powers instead. Thus, he concluded that since no express provision existed allowing Congress to impose taxes on national banks then they were without legal authority to do so under either federal law or common sense principles of interpretation.