In the United States v. A.S. Kreider Co., 1940, the Supreme Court examined whether a Pennsylvania corporation could be held liable for unpaid federal taxes owed by another company it had acquired assets from, even though no formal agreement or contract existed between them regarding tax liability. The court ruled in favor of the U.S government stating that under Section 311(a) of the Revenue Act of 1926 and Section 280(a)(1) of Revenue Act of 1929, when one corporation acquires substantially all properties and assets (including intangible goodwill) from another corporation through reorganization but does not formally assume its liabilities including tax debts, it is still responsible for those debts if they are related to business conducted with these properties before acquisition. This ruling established an important precedent about corporate responsibility for inherited tax liabilities after mergers or acquisitions.

The dissenting opinion in the United States v. A.S. Kreider Co., 1940 case, argued that the majority's interpretation of Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act was incorrect and overly broad. The dissenters believed that this section should not be applied to cases where a corporation had already been dissolved by state law before bankruptcy proceedings began, as it would undermine states' rights to regulate their own corporations. They also disagreed with the majority's view that federal courts could disregard state laws regarding corporate dissolution when applying Section 77B, arguing instead for a more limited reading of federal power under this statute.