JUSTICE POWELL delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question is whether the Due Process Clause permits New Mexico to tax a portion of dividends that appellant F.W. Woolworth Co. received from foreign subsidiaries that do no business in New Mexico. We also must decide whether New Mexico may include within Woolworth's apportionable New Mexico income a sum, commonly known as "gross-up," that Woolworth calculated in order to claim a foreign tax credit on its federal income tax.

I

Woolworth's principal place of business and commercial domicile are in New York. It engages in retail business through chains of stores located in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. It sells a wide spectrum of merchandise, including dry goods, hardware, small appliances, confections, packaged goods, and fountain items. In the fiscal year ending January 31, 1977, Woolworth's gross domestic sales totalled approximately $2.5 billion, with New Mexico sales amounting to approximately $13 million — or about 0.5% of the gross figure. App. 57a.

Woolworth owns four foreign subsidiaries of relevance to this suit. Three are wholly owned: F.W. Woolworth GmbH, in Germany; F.W. Woolworth, Ltd., in Canada; and F.W. Woolworth, S.A. de C.V. Mexico. F.W. Woolworth Co., Ltd., is an English corporation of which Woolworth owns 52.7%, with the remainder held and traded publicly. These four corporations also engage in chainstore retailing. Together they paid Woolworth approximately $39.9 million in dividends during the fiscal year in question.

New Mexico adopted a version of the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act in 1965, N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 7-4-1 — 7-4-21 (1981), and joined the Multistate Tax Compact in 1967. §§ 7-5-1 — 7-5-7 (1981). See ASARCO Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Comm'n, ante, at 311-312; United States Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Comm'n, 434 U.S. 452 (1978). Consequently the State distinguishes between "business" income, which it apportions between it and other States for tax purposes, and "nonbusiness" income, which it generally allocates to a single State on the basis of commercial domicile. Woolworth reported its dividend income of $39.9 million from its German, Canadian, Mexican, and English subsidiaries as "nonbusiness" income, none of which was to be allocated to New Mexico. Woolworth also treated as "nonbusiness" income a $1.6 million gain from a hedging transaction in British pounds. This transaction was undertaken for the purpose of insuring the payment of the British subsidiary's dividend against currency fluctuations. See App. 52a-54a. Similarly, Woolworth did not report as New Mexico "business" income $25.5 million of "gross-up" that it never actually received but that the Federal Government (for purposes of calculating Woolworth's federal foreign tax credit pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 78, 901(a), and 902(a)) deemed Woolworth to have received from its foreign subsidiaries.

On audit, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department determined that, under state law, Woolworth should have included in its apportionable New Mexico income the dividends from its four foreign subsidiaries, the foreign exchange gain, and the $25.5 million gross-up figure. These additions increased Woolworth's apportioned New Mexico income from $84,622 to $401,518. App. 69a. The Department denied Woolworth's protest, but this decision was reversed on appeal by the New Mexico Court of Appeals. F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Bureau of Revenue, 95 N.M. 542, 624 P.2d 51 (1979).

As a matter of state law, the Court of Appeals excluded from apportionable New Mexico income Woolworth's receipt of the dividends at issue. The court stated that "[t]here is no indication that the income from Woolworth's long-standing investments [in its subsidiaries] was used either in taxpayer's unitary domestic business or in its business conducted in New Mexico . . . ." Id., at 545, 624 P.2d, at 54. With respect to the gross-up issue, the Court of Appeals said that the State's "rigid insistence" on inclusion of this amount "is a refusal to recognize an obviously fictitious income figure, made artificial by the federal reporting requirements for a specific purpose . . . ." Id., at 543-544, 624 P.2d, at 52-53. The court said that "`[g]ross-up' in fact represents income to taxpayer's foreign subsidiaries [that] is paid out in taxes to foreign governments," id., at 544, 624 P.2d, at 53, and not income in fact to the parent. The court thus likewise excluded this sum from Woolworth's apportionable New Mexico income.

The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed over one dissent. 95 N.M. 519, 624 P.2d 28 (1981). On the question whether Woolworth's receipt of dividends from its subsidiaries constituted apportionable New Mexico income, the court observed that, "[r]egrettably, it needs to be said that the State did a very poor job of inquiring into and developing the facts in this case." Id., at 524, 624 P.2d, at 33. The court nonetheless found substantial evidence to support the findings that the subsidiaries' dividend payments met the State's statutory test for inclusion in Woolworth's apportionable New Mexico income. On the constitutional issue, the court identified the "key question" after our decision in Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vermont, 445 U.S. 425 (1980), as "whether those dividends were income earned in a unitary business." 95 N.M., at 528, 624 P.2d, at 37. The court stated:

"The [dividend] income [from Woolworth's subsidiaries] is obviously related to the mutual activities of the parent and its affiliates. The control over the subsidiaries, the interdependence, the history of the relationships, the placing of the [dividend] money in [Woolworth's] general operating account, all point to functional integration and reveal an underlying unitary business for our purposes here." Id., at 529, 624 P.2d, at 38.

Respecting the State's inclusion of Woolworth's federal gross-up figure as apportionable state income, the court "deem[ed] it unnecessary to delve into all the intricacies of the federal laws and regulations," but found it sufficient "to say that, since Woolworth decided to use the gross-up option, the income taxes paid by Woolworth's foreign subsidiaries to foreign governments must be deemed to be received as dividends . . . ." Id., at 521-522, 624 P.2d, at 30-31. "Admittedly, the fictitious gross-up, which the state claims is `business income' and which Woolworth deliberately acceded to, does not fit the ordinary definition of `income' . . . ." Id., at 522, 624 P.2d, at 31. Nevertheless, the court noted that there was no claim and no lower court finding that Woolworth did not "obtain an economic benefit from the gross-up procedure here." Id., at 523, 624 P.2d, at 32. The court consequently rejected Woolworth's statutory and constitutional challenges to the State's inclusion of the federal gross-up figure in Woolworth's apportionable New Mexico business income.

II

This case was argued in tandem with ASARCO Inc. v. Idaho State Tax Comm'n, ante, p. 307, which also involved dividends and gains from foreign subsidiaries. We have reiterated today in ASARCO that "`[t]he "linchpin of apportionability" for state income taxation of an interstate enterprise is the "unitary-business principle."'" Ante, at 319, quoting Exxon Corp. v. Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue, 447 U.S. 207, 223 (1980), in turn quoting Mobil Oil Corp. v. Commissioner of Taxes of Vermont, supra, at 439.

Woolworth owns all the stock of three of its dividend payors and a 52.7% majority interest in the fourth. As a result, Woolworth (at least with respect to the three wholly owned companies) elects all of the subsidiaries' directors. It potentially has the authority to operate these companies as integrated divisions of a single unitary business. Our decision in ASARCO makes clear, however, that the potential to operate a company as part of a unitary business is not dispositive when, looking at "the `underlying economic realities of a unitary business,'" the dividend income from the subsidiaries in fact is "derive[d] from `unrelated business activity' which constitutes a `discrete business enterprise.'" Exxon, supra, at 223-224, quoting Mobil, supra, at 441, 442, 439. See ASARCO, ante, at 322-323 (holding that a 52.7%-owned subsidiary is not part of its parent's unitary business).

A

The State Supreme Court in important part analyzed this case under a different legal standard. After stating that the existence of a unitary business relationship was the "key question," the court proceeded to resolve this question largely by emphasizing the potentials of the relationship between Woolworth and its subsidiaries:

"The possession of large assets by subsidiaries is a business advantage of great value to the parent; `it may give credit which will result in more economical business methods; it may give a standing which shall facilitate purchases; it may enable the corporation to enlarge the field of its activities and in many ways give it business standing and prestige.' Flint v. Stone Tracy Co., 220 U.S. 107, 166 . . . (1911)." 95 N.M., at 529, 624 P.2d, at 38.

This reliance on the Flint case was error. Flint upheld a federal excise tax levied on corporate income. The States, of course, are subject to limitations on their taxation powers that do not apply to the Federal Government. As relevant here, "the income attributed to [a] State for tax purposes must be rationally related to `values connected with the taxing State.' Norfolk Western R. Co. v. State Tax Comm'n, 390 U.S. 317, 325." Moorman Mfg. Co. v. Bair, 437 U.S. 267, 273 (1978). The state court's reasoning would trivialize this due process limitation by holding it satisfied if the income in question "adds to the riches of the corporation . . . ." Wallace v. Hines, 253 U.S. 66, 70 (1920). Income, from whatever source, always is a "business advantage" to a corporation. Our cases demand more. In particular, they specify that the proper inquiry looks to "the underlying unity or diversity of business enterprise," Mobil, supra, at 440, not to whether the nondomiciliary parent derives some economic benefit — as it virtually always will — from its ownership of stock in another corporation. See ASARCO, ante, at 325-329.

B

In Mobil we emphasized, as relevant to the right of a State to tax dividends from foreign subsidiaries, the question whether "contributions to income [of the subsidiaries] result[ed] from functional integration, centralization of management, and economies of scale." 445 U.S., at 438. If such "factors of profitability" arising "from the operation of the business as a whole" exist and evidence the operation of a unitary business, a State can gain a justification for its tax consideration of value that has no other connection with that State. Ibid. We turn now to consider the extent, if any, to which these factors exist in this case.

There was little functional integration. Woolworth's subsidiaries engaged exclusively in the business of retailing — the purchase of wholesale goods for resale to final consumers. This type of business differs significantly from the "highly integrated business" of locating, processing, and marketing a resource (such as petroleum) that we previously have found to constitute a unitary business. Exxon, 447 U.S., at 224. See also id., at 226 (describing "a unitary stream of income, of which the income derived from internal transfers of raw materials from exploration and production to refining is a part"); Mobil, 445 U.S., at 428. Consistent with this distinction, the evidence in this case is that no phase of any subsidiary's business was integrated with the parent's. With respect to "who makes the decision for seeing to the merchandise, [store] site selection, advertising and accounting control," the undisputed testimony stated that "[e]ach subsidiary performs these functions autonomously and independently of the parent company." App. 12a. "Each subsidiary has a complete accounting department and a financial staff." Id., at 14a. Each had its own outside counsel. App. to Juris. Statement 34a. It further appears that Woolworth engaged in no centralized purchasing, manufacturing, or warehousing of merchandise. The parent had no central personnel training school for its foreign subsidiaries. Ibid. And each subsidiary was responsible for obtaining its own financing from sources other than the parent. In sum, the record is persuasive that Woolworth's operations were not functionally integrated with its subsidiaries.

We now consider the extent to which there was centralization of management or achievement of other economies of scale. It appears that each subsidiary operated as a distinct business enterprise at the level of fulltime management. With one possible exception, none of the subsidiaries' officers during the year in question was a current or former employee of the parent. Ibid. The testimony was that the subsidiaries "figure that their operations are independent, autonomous." App. 13a. Woolworth did not "rotate personnel or train personnel to operate stores in those countries. There is no exchange of personnel." Ibid. There was no "training program that is central to transmit the Woolworth idea of merchandising[,] such as it may be[,] to the foreign subsidiaries." Id., at 15a. The subsidiaries "proceed . . . with their own programs, either formal or informal. They develop their own managers and instruct them in their methods of operation." Ibid.

This management decentralization was reflected in the fact that each subsidiary possessed autonomy to determine its own policies respecting its primary activity — retailing. According to the hearing examiner:

"Each of the four subsidiaries are responsible for determining the size and location of retail stores, the market conditions in their own territory and the mix of items to be sold. The German subsidiary emphasizes soft goods such as dresses and coats. It sells no food. The English subsidiary operates restaurants in its stores and also operates supermarkets. Each subsidiary attempts to cater to local tastes and needs. The inventory of each subsidiary consists, in large part, of home country produced items. This purchase-at-home practice is consistent with the policy of the taxpayer. A number of inventory items are purchased from the Orient or other places but there is no evidence that the subsidiaries purchase, or are required to purchase, inventory items from any particular source." App. to Juris. Statement 33a-34a.

Importantly, the Department's hearing examiner found that Woolworth had "no department or section, as such, devoted to overseeing the foreign subsidiary operations." Id., at 34a. Neither the parent corporation nor any of the subsidiaries consolidates its tax return with any of the other companies. App. 37a-38a. The tax manager for Woolworth stated that he did not review the subsidiaries' tax returns or consult with them on decisions affecting taxes. Id., at 14a. There was no "policy of the parent that all of the managers of all the operations get together periodically to discuss the overall Woolworth operations." Id., at 35a.

There were some managerial links. Woolworth maintained one or several common directors with some of the subsidiaries. There also was irregular in-person and "frequent" mail, telephone, and teletype communication between the upper echelons of management of the parent and the subsidiaries. App. to Juris. Statement 34a. Decisions about major financial decisions, such as the amount of dividends to be paid by the subsidiaries and the creation of substantial debt, had to be approved by the parent. Id., at 35a. Woolworth's published financial statements, such as its annual reports, were prepared on a consolidated basis. Ibid.

We conclude, on the basis of undisputed facts, that the four subsidiaries in question are not a part of a unitary business under the principles articulated in Mobil and Exxon, and today reiterated in ASARCO. Except for the type of occasional oversight — with respect to capital structure, major debt, and dividends — that any parent gives to an investment in a subsidiary, there is little or no integration of the business activities or centralization of the management of these five corporations. Woolworth has proved that its situation differs from that in Exxon, where the corporation's Coordination and Services Management office was found to provide for the asserted unitary business

"long-range planning for the company, maximization of overall company operations, development of financial policy and procedures, financing of corporate activities, maintenance of the accounting system, legal advice, public relations, labor relations, purchase and sale of raw crude oil and raw materials, and coordination between the refining and other operating functions `so as to obtain an optimum short range operating program.'" 447 U.S., at 211.

In this case the parent company's operations are not interrelated with those of its subsidiaries so that one's "stable" operation is important to the other's "full utilization" of capacity. Id., at 218. See also id., at 225. The Woolworth parent did not provide "many essential corporate services" for the subsidiaries, and there was no "centralized purchasing office . . . whose obvious purpose was to increase overall corporate profits through bulk purchases and efficient allocation of supplies among retailers." Id., at 224. And it was not the case that "sales were facilitated through the use of a uniform credit card system, uniform packaging, brand names, and promotional displays, all run from the national headquarters." Ibid. See also Mobil, 445 U.S., at 428, 435.

There is a critical distinction between a retail merchandising business as conducted by Woolworth and the type of multinational business — now so familiar — in which refined, processed, or manufactured products (or parts thereof) may be produced in one or more countries and marketed in various countries, often worldwide. In operations of this character there is a flow of international trade, often an interchange of personnel, and substantial mutual interdependence. The uncontradicted evidence demonstrates that Woolworth's international retail business is not comparable. There is no flow of international business. Nor is there any integration or unitary operation in the sense in which our cases consistently have used these terms.

In Mobil, we recognized:

"[A]ll dividend income received by corporations operating in interstate commerce is [not] necessarily taxable in each State where that corporation does business. Where the business activities of the dividend payor have nothing to do with the activities of the recipient in the taxing State, due process considerations might well preclude apportionability, because there would be no underlying unitary business." Id., at 441-442.

This is such a case. Each of the foreign subsidiaries at issue operates a "discrete business enterprise," Mobil, supra, at 439, with a notable absence of any "umbrella of centralized management and controlled interaction." Exxon, 447 U.S., at 224. New Mexico, in taxing a portion of dividends received from such enterprises, is attempting to reach "extraterritorial values," Mobil, supra, at 442, wholly unrelated to the business of the Woolworth stores in New Mexico. As a result, a "showing has been made that income unconnected with the unitary business has been used in the" levy of the New Mexico tax. Butler Bros. v. McColgan, 315 U.S. 501, 509 (1942). We conclude that this tax does not bear the necessary relationship "`to opportunities, benefits, or protection conferred or afforded by the taxing State. See Wisconsin v. J.C. Penney Co., 311 U.S. 435, 444.'" Norfolk Western R. Co. v. Missouri State Tax Comm'n, 390 U.S. 317, 325, n. 5 (1968), quoting Ott v. Mississippi Valley Barge Line Co., 336 U.S. 169, 174 (1949). New Mexico's tax thus fails to meet established due process standards.

III

We need not be detained by New Mexico's reaching out to tax "gross-up" amounts that even the Supreme Court of New Mexico recognized as "fictitious." 95 N.M., at 522, 624 P.2d, at 31. The gross-up computation is a figure that the Federal Government "deems" Woolworth to have received for purposes of part of Woolworth's federal foreign tax credit calculation. It "is treated [for this purpose] as a dividend in the same manner as a dividend actually received by the domestic corporation from a foreign corporation." H.R. Rep. No. 1447, 87th Cong., 2d Sess., A83 (1962). See also S. Rep. No. 1881, 87th Cong., 2d Sess., 227 (1962). In this case the foreign tax credit arose from the taxation by foreign nations of Woolworth foreign subsidiaries that had no unitary business relationship with New Mexico. New Mexico's effort to tax this income "deemed received" — with respect to which New Mexico contributed nothing — also must be held to contravene the Due Process Clause.

IV

The judgment of the Supreme Court of New Mexico is reversed.

It is so ordered.

[For concurring opinion of THE CHIEF JUSTICE, see ante, p. 331.]