PPL Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 12-43; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Thomas, J.; concurrence by Sotomayor, J.; decided May 20, 2013. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
In 1997, the United Kingdom (U.K.), newly under Labour Party rule, imposed a one-time "windfall tax" on 32 U.K. companies privatized between 1984 and 1996 by the Conservative government. The companies had been sold to private parties through an initial sale of shares, known as a "flotation." Some of the companies were required to continue providing services for a fixed period at the same rates they had offered under government control. Many of those companies became dramatically more efficient and earned substantial profits in the process.
