The U.S. Supreme Court case Missouri ex rel. Missouri Insurance Company v. Gehner, Assessor of the City of St. Louis, et al., 1929 revolved around a dispute over taxation methods for insurance companies in the state of Missouri. The plaintiff, the Missouri Insurance Company, argued that it was being unfairly taxed by city assessors who were not taking into account its liabilities when determining its taxable assets as required by state law and constitution which mandate that all property be taxed on "its true value in money". The defendant maintained their method was fair and constitutional because they only considered tangible assets while ignoring intangible ones like policy reserves (liabilities). In a unanimous decision led by Justice Pierce Butler, the court sided with the plaintiff ruling that tax assessments must take into consideration both tangible and intangible assets to determine an entity's net worth or "true value in money." This meant including liabilities such as policy reserves when assessing insurance companies' taxable properties.

In the dissenting opinion for Missouri ex rel. Missouri Insurance Company v. Gehner, Justice Stone disagreed with the majority's decision that a state tax on intangible property violated due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. He argued that states should have broad discretion in their taxation policies and procedures, as long as they do not discriminate against interstate commerce or violate other specific constitutional prohibitions. In his view, it was not unconstitutional for a state to levy taxes on securities held by its residents even if those securities were issued by corporations located outside of the state. Furthermore, he contended that there was no violation of due process because taxpayers had an opportunity to challenge their assessments before paying them and could seek judicial review afterwards if dissatisfied with the outcome.