In Maximov v. United States (1962), the Supreme Court ruled that a bankruptcy trustee could not recover payments made by an insolvent debtor to the federal government for taxes, as these were not considered voidable preferences under Section 60 of the Bankruptcy Act. The case involved Nicholas Maximov, who was appointed as a trustee in bankruptcy proceedings for North American Car Corporation. He sought to recover tax payments made by the corporation prior to its insolvency on grounds they constituted preferential transfers which unfairly favored one creditor over others. However, both lower courts and ultimately, the Supreme Court disagreed with this argument stating that such tax payments did not constitute 'voidable preferences' because they were neither voluntary nor enabled any advantage or benefit upon IRS over other creditors.

In the dissenting opinion for Maximov v. United States, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to apply a federal common law rule was incorrect and instead, state law should have been applied in this case. He believed that the Court had overstepped its bounds by creating a new federal rule when it could have easily used existing state laws to resolve the issue at hand. Furthermore, he contended that there was no compelling reason or necessity for such an intervention by Federal courts into areas traditionally governed by State law. This imposition of Federal rules on matters usually left to local control would lead to unnecessary confusion and inconsistency in legal proceedings across different jurisdictions.