Van Allen v. The Assessors was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court determined that state governments have no authority to tax federal bonds held by citizens of their respective states. In this case, Van Allen had purchased U.S. government bonds and paid taxes on them to the State of New York, but he argued that since these were federal securities, they should not be subject to taxation by any state or local government body. The Supreme Court agreed with him and ruled that it is unconstitutional for a state or local government entity to impose taxes on federally issued securities owned by its citizens as such an act would interfere with Congress’s power over national finances and commerce under Article I Section 8 Clause 1 of the Constitution (the “Necessary & Proper Clause”). This ruling established important precedent regarding how states can interact with federal financial instruments and has been cited in numerous cases since then involving similar issues related to taxation of federally-issued securities owned by individuals within those states

In Van Allen v. The Assessors, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state tax on income derived from federal bonds was unconstitutional. Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion, arguing that Congress had exclusive authority over taxation of federal securities and that states could not interfere with this power by imposing taxes on them. He argued that such an interference would be in direct violation of Article I Section 8 Clause 1 of the Constitution which grants Congress exclusive power to lay and collect taxes for any purpose whatsoever. Furthermore, he noted that if states were allowed to impose their own taxes on these securities it would create confusion as different rules may apply in each state making it difficult for investors who hold these securities across multiple jurisdictions. As such, Justice Field concluded that allowing states to impose their own taxes on federally issued bonds is unconstitutional and should be struck down accordingly