Visitors pose for photographs outside the U.S. Supreme Court, June 18, 2024, in Washington.The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Trump-era tax on U.S. shareholders of some American-controlled foreign corporations, preserving a major source of government revenue while sidestepping the more controversial question of the constitutionality of the taxation of wealth.
A Washington state couple, Charles and Kathleen Moore, sued to strike down the law saying a $15,000 tax bill they paid as shareholders of an Indian company was illegal because they had not personally realized any financial gain. The MRT, or Mandatory Repatriation Tax, was a key part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed by then-President Donald Trump. It levied a one-time collection on investors' shares of corporate profits earned overseas, part of a complex plan to encourage greater investment in the U.S.