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Articles 811 - 840 of 1010

Full-Text Articles in Tax Law

Taxation - Commerce Clause - Tax By Seller State On Contract To Sell Interstate, Walter B. Connolly Jan 1941

Taxation - Commerce Clause - Tax By Seller State On Contract To Sell Interstate, Walter B. Connolly

Michigan Law Review

Appellants were partners in the securities business with offices in New York City. In the course of their business they agreed to sell shares of stock to two firms, one engaged in business in Philadelphia, the other in Washington, D. C. The securities were mailed to banks in Philadelphia and Washington for delivery upon payment of sight drafts attached. Under the tax law of the state of New York, a tax was levied on the sale of this stock. Appellants sought a refund of the tax on the ground that the statute imposed an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. Held …

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Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Exemption Of Life Insurance Proceeds When Paid In The Form Of Annuity, Spencer E. Irons Jan 1941

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Exemption Of Life Insurance Proceeds When Paid In The Form Of Annuity, Spencer E. Irons

Michigan Law Review

A taxpayer was the beneficiary of life insurance policies which required the insurance company to make fifty annual payments of $2,000 each. At the death of the insured in 1917, the commuted value of this obligation was $53,000. Prior to 1934, the taxpayer had received seventeen payments, aggregating $45,473.40, no part of which had been reported as income. For the year 1934, the taxpayer received $2,581.40, of which $2,000 was the annual payment, and $581.40 was an "excess interest" dividend. He again failed to include any of the amount in his gross income. The commissioner determined that under the Revenue …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Insurance - Amounts Received By Stockholders Under Life Insurance Contract, C. V. Beck Jr. Jan 1941

Taxation - Income Tax - Insurance - Amounts Received By Stockholders Under Life Insurance Contract, C. V. Beck Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A corporation took out several policies of insurance on the life of its president, naming itself as beneficiary. Later, reserving the right to hypothecate the policies, it assigned them to a trustee who agreed to distribute the proceeds of the policies to the stockholders of record at the time of the president's death. At the death of the president the proceeds were paid by the insurance companies to the trustee who then paid them pro rata to the stockholders. At this time the corporation had on hand earnings equivalent to the amount of distribution, and there was no showing that …

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Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Intangible Satisfaction From Gift As Income To The Donor, Walter B. Connolly Jan 1941

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Intangible Satisfaction From Gift As Income To The Donor, Walter B. Connolly

Michigan Law Review

Respondent, the owner of negotiable bonds, detached from them negotiable interest coupons shortly before their due date and delivered them as a gift to his son, who in the same year collected them at maturity. The commissioner of internal revenue ruled that the interest payments were taxable to the respondent donor. The circuit court of appeals reversed the order of the board of tax appeals sustaining the tax. Held, the commissioner was correct in including such interest payments in the taxable income of the donor. Helvering v. Horst, (U.S. 1940) 61 S. Ct. 144.

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Trusts - Apportionment Of Annual Taxes Between Life Tenant And Remainderman, Charles F. Dugan Nov 1940

Trusts - Apportionment Of Annual Taxes Between Life Tenant And Remainderman, Charles F. Dugan

Michigan Law Review

Annual taxes on real estate in Massachusetts were assessed on January 1 of each year, and were payable on July and October l, The will set up a trust to pay income to the tenant for life, and to pay the principal to the remainderman. The trustees sought to retain sufficient funds out of income to meet the next year's taxes, fearing that the tenant might not live long enough after January 1 to accumulate sufficient income to meet the taxes, and they brought this bill for instructions. The probate court entered a decree sustaining the trustees' contentions. On appeal, …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Interest On Condemnation Award As Capital Gain, John L. Rubsam Nov 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Interest On Condemnation Award As Capital Gain, John L. Rubsam

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner's land was condemned by the city of New York and as compensation he was awarded a certain sum representing the value of the land and, in addition, a sum classified as "interest" to indemnify the petitioner for delay in payment of the award. The award so classified as "interest" was taxed as "ordinary income" by the commissioner of internal revenue. It was petitioner's contention that such sum denominated as "interest" should have been classed as a "capital gain" and not as "ordinary income." From an order of the board of tax appeals holding this sum "ordinary income," petitioner appealed. …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Taxability Of Income Of Alimony Trust To Husband-Settlor-Rule Of Douglas V. Willcuts, Benjamin W. Franklin Jun 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Taxability Of Income Of Alimony Trust To Husband-Settlor-Rule Of Douglas V. Willcuts, Benjamin W. Franklin

Michigan Law Review

Three recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, Helvering v. Fitch, Helvering v. Leonard, and Helvering v. Fuller, all involving an application of the rule of Douglas v. Willcuts, raise the question of what that rule means in its practical application. Stated briefly, that rule is that the income from a so-called alimony trust is taxable to the husband-settlor whenever it discharges a continuing obligation for him.

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Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Benjamin W. Franklin Jun 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Benjamin W. Franklin

Michigan Law Review

In 1915, defendant leased a tract of land to X for ninety-nine years. The lease provided that the lessee could remove the old building and replace it; and that on termination, the lessee should surrender the land, buildings and improvements. In 1929, the lessee razed the old structure and erected a new one. On default by the lessee in 1933, the lease was cancelled and defendant repossessed the premises. The commissioner of internal revenue determined that the difference between the fair market value of the new building in 1933 and the unamortized cost of the building razed in 1929 was …

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Taxation - Corporations -Treatment Of Treasury Stock Under The Michigan Privilege Tax Statute, James A. Lee May 1940

Taxation - Corporations -Treatment Of Treasury Stock Under The Michigan Privilege Tax Statute, James A. Lee

Michigan Law Review

The recent Louisiana case of State v. Stewart Brothers Cotton Co., lnc. raises the question of the treatment of treasury stock 2 for franchise or privilege tax purposes. In that case the state statute provided that the base for the franchise tax was the corporation's issued and outstanding capital stock, surplus and undivided profits. Stewart Bros. Cotton Co., Inc., had an authorized capital stock of 10,000 shares; in 1930 it purchased 3,333 1/3 shares of this stock, and did not cancel the shares until 1935. The surplus, which was more than sufficient to allow the corporation to purchase the stock …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Credits - Orphans Maintained In An Orphanage Are Not Dependents Of The Taxpayer Under The Revenue Act Of 1932, Jerome J. Dick May 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Credits - Orphans Maintained In An Orphanage Are Not Dependents Of The Taxpayer Under The Revenue Act Of 1932, Jerome J. Dick

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner for a number of years had been paying the annual deficit of the St. Francis Industrial School for Orphans. In 1933 she entered into and performed a contract with the orphanage whereby she agreed to pay the maintenance expense of sixty-four named orphans. Petitioner claimed she was entitled to a $400 credit on her income tax return for each of these orphans. Under the Revenue Act of 1932 the credit was allowed for each person dependent upon and receiving his chief support from the taxpayer. Petitioner appealed the decision of the United States Board of Tax Appeals, which …

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Taxation - Jurisdiction - Classification Of Property As Tangible Or Intangible, John L. Rubsam May 1940

Taxation - Jurisdiction - Classification Of Property As Tangible Or Intangible, John L. Rubsam

Michigan Law Review

Respondent's decedent died testate in 1936 and was at the time of his death a resident of and domiciled in Oregon. In earlier years when he resided in Wisconsin he placed various stocks, bonds and other intangibles in the possession of an Illinois trust company, which acted as his agent in collecting and investing the principal and income on these securities. These securities were always physically present in Illinois, never in Oregon. About six months before his death respondent's decedent directed the trust company to sell some of his bonds and purchase $450,000 worth of federal irrevocable trust for the …

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Taxation - Privilege Tax On Foreign Corporations - Due Process And Commerce Clauses - Validity Of Formula, James W. Deer May 1940

Taxation - Privilege Tax On Foreign Corporations - Due Process And Commerce Clauses - Validity Of Formula, James W. Deer

Michigan Law Review

The state of Texas levied an annual franchise tax on all corporations, both foreign and domestic, authorized to do business within the state. The tax was assessed on the basis of the amount of the total capital stock which was allocable to Texas, the allocation being based on the proportion that Texas gross receipts bore to total gross receipts. This formula, as applied to the Ford Motor Company, gave the statutory base of $23,000,000 on which Ford paid the tax under protest. The evidence showed that the Ford Motor Company had only an assembly plant in Texas worth $3,000,000, that …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Liability Of Settlors Of Irrevocable Short Term Trusts, Robert M. Warren Apr 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Liability Of Settlors Of Irrevocable Short Term Trusts, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

In a recent significant decision the Supreme Court of the United States has declared that, under certain circumstances, income from irrevocable short-term trusts may be taxed to the settlor. This conclusion is contrary to the previously accepted notion that there was no authority for such a tax under existing provisions of the Revenue Act. In the light of this and other recent decisions the matter of taxation of income from short-term trusts assumes renewed significance.

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Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Distinction Between Sale And Tax Exempt Reorganization Under Section 112, Henry J. Merry Mar 1940

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Distinction Between Sale And Tax Exempt Reorganization Under Section 112, Henry J. Merry

Michigan Law Review

The recent Supreme Court decision in Le Tulle v. Scofield, disapproving the views of four out of five circuit courts of appeals, appears to add a new and more specific requirement to the already complex law on the subject of statutory reorganization under the Revenue Act of 1928 -- that the consideration received by the transferor corporation include some stock of the transferee corporation. In the subject case, the Gulf Coast Irrigation Company transferred substantially all its assets to the Gulf Coast Water Company in exchange for $50,000 in cash and $750,000 in mortgage bonds, four-fifths of which matured …

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Constitutional Law - Original Jurisdiction Of United States Supreme Court - Availability As A Procedural Remedy To Avoid Multiple Taxation, Benjamin W. Franklin Mar 1940

Constitutional Law - Original Jurisdiction Of United States Supreme Court - Availability As A Procedural Remedy To Avoid Multiple Taxation, Benjamin W. Franklin

Michigan Law Review

The state of Massachusetts instituted an original proceeding against the state of Missouri and individual citizens of Missouri for leave to file a bill of complaint, alleging that M. B. Blake died domiciled in Massachusetts; that she had created three trusts of securities, reserving a power of revocation over two; that the securities were held in Missouri where the trustees resided; that both states had statutes subjecting to taxation property passing by deed, grant or gift, made or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment after the donor's death; that the Massachusetts statute taxed intangible property only when owned …

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Criminal Law And Procedure - Statute Of Limitations - Income Tax Prosecution, Michigan Law Review Feb 1940

Criminal Law And Procedure - Statute Of Limitations - Income Tax Prosecution, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was indicted for wilfully attempting to evade and defeat payment of part of his income tax for the taxable year 1930 by filing a false return in violation of the Revenue Act of 1928. A motion to quash was entered because the indictment had not been found and returned within six years of the alleged commission of the offense. The indictment had been actually found and filed six years and one hundred sixty-six days from the day upon which the return was filed. Defendant was absent from the district on various business and pleasure trips for more than the …

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Administrative Law - Taxation - Power Of Board To Adopt Rules And Regulations - Inflexibility Of Prior Ruling By Reenactment Of Statute Without Change, William F. Anderson Jan 1940

Administrative Law - Taxation - Power Of Board To Adopt Rules And Regulations - Inflexibility Of Prior Ruling By Reenactment Of Statute Without Change, William F. Anderson

Michigan Law Review

The respondent oil company in computing its net income for the years 1929-1930 for the purpose of applying the depletion deduction provisions of the Revenue Act of 1928 refused to deduct certain development expenditures, although it had deducted those development expenditures in computing its taxable net income for these years. Under the rule-making power of section 23 (1) of that act, the commissioner defined "net income of the taxpayer" as used in section 114 (b)(3) as meaning gross income from the sale of gas and oil less certain deductions, including development expenses (if the taxpayer had elected to deduct development …

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Taxation - Jurisdiction To Tax - Multiple Taxation Of Intangibles, Richard Brawerman Nov 1939

Taxation - Jurisdiction To Tax - Multiple Taxation Of Intangibles, Richard Brawerman

Michigan Law Review

In two recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, Curry v. McCanless, and Graves v. Elliott, a majority of the justices refused to adhere to the doctrine that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits taxation of intangibles by more than one state, and subscribed instead to the view that control and benefit are together the only test of jurisdiction of the states to tax. In Curry v. McCanless, the decedent, a resident of Tennessee, had created a trust of intangibles, reserving control over the income during her life and power to revoke the trust by will. The trust …

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Constitutional Law - Taxation Of Salaries Of Judges Of The United States, Thomas K. Fisher Jun 1939

Constitutional Law - Taxation Of Salaries Of Judges Of The United States, Thomas K. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

The Revenue Act of 1932 provided that "In the case of Presidents of the United States and judges of courts' of the United States taking office after June 6, 1932, the compensation received as such shall be included in gross income; and all Acts fixing the compensation of such Presidents and judges are hereby amended accordingly." A United States circuit judge, appointed in 1933, was required to include in his tax return the amount of his salary, under the Revenue Act of 1936, which re-enacted the above provision. His claim for refund being rejected, the present suit was brought, and …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Whether Purchase And Retirement By Corporation Of Own Bonds At Less Than Amount Of Issue Constitutes A Taxable Gain Where Corporation Is Insolvent, S. R. Stroud Jun 1939

Taxation - Income Tax - Whether Purchase And Retirement By Corporation Of Own Bonds At Less Than Amount Of Issue Constitutes A Taxable Gain Where Corporation Is Insolvent, S. R. Stroud

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a railway corporation, in 1906 leased all its property to an operating company for a term of fifty years. At the same time petitioner issued $434,000 in first mortgage bonds which were used to refund a prior issue of $350,000 and to provide for certain improvements on the road. Interest on the bonds was to be met by lessee's payment of the greater part of the rental directly to the trustee of the mortgage bonds, but no provision for a sinking fund was made. In October, 1932, petitioner purchased $19,000 par value of aforesaid mortgage bonds for $4,750, and …

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Taxation-Income Tax-Dealings By Corporation In Its Own Stock, John N. Seaman Jun 1939

Taxation-Income Tax-Dealings By Corporation In Its Own Stock, John N. Seaman

Michigan Law Review

From 1921 to 1929, appellee corporation bought shares of its own stock, not for retirement, but to sustain the market, to increase the number of shareholders by resale in smaller blocks, and for other reasons. This stock was held as treasury stock. In 1929 it was sold by the corporation, at a profit. From 1920 to 1934 the Treasury Regulations exempted the proceeds of such a transaction from income tax, treating the purchase and sale as separate decrease and increase in the capital, and not as resulting in income. But in 1934 the regulation was changed, so as to tax …

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Taxation-Income Tax -Jurisdiction -Trusts - State Tax On Resident Beneficiary's Net Income From Trust Established And Administered By Non-Resident Trustee, Allan A. Rubin May 1939

Taxation-Income Tax -Jurisdiction -Trusts - State Tax On Resident Beneficiary's Net Income From Trust Established And Administered By Non-Resident Trustee, Allan A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

The state of Virginia imposed an income tax upon the income received by a resident of Virginia as beneficiary of a discretionary trust established and administered in New York by a resident of New York, which state had levied and collected an income tax on the entire income of the trust fund. Petitioner protested the payment of the Virginia tax, alleging the taking of property without due process of law and the denial of equal privileges in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. Held, that the tax was valid, since it was ascertained by the beneficiary's …

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Legal Institute, Michigan Law Review May 1939

Legal Institute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A legal institute for practicing lawyers will be held at the Law School of the University of Michigan on June 22 to 24. The student dormitories in the classic Law Quadrangle will be open to those attending the Institute. Subjects to be discussed will include Taxation, Labor Law, and Wills and Trusts. Members of the law faculty and several practicing lawyers specializing in the topics to be considered will be the lecturers.

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Constitutional Law - Taxation - Curtailment Of Intergovernmental Tax Immunities, Allan A. Rubin May 1939

Constitutional Law - Taxation - Curtailment Of Intergovernmental Tax Immunities, Allan A. Rubin

Michigan Law Review

In the recent well-publicized decision of Graves v. O'Keefe, the United States Supreme Court, following a path adequately cleared by Helvering v. Gerhardt, again enlarged the scope of the governmental powers to impose non-discriminatory taxes. In so doing, the Court clarified the fundamental principles underlying intergovernmental tax immunities by eliminating inconsistencies and resolving confusion persisting in this field of law. The Gerhardt case had sustained the imposition of a federal income tax on the salaries of employees of the Port of New York Authority, a state instrumentality created by New York and New Jersey. But it had not …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Ralph E. Helper May 1939

Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Ralph E. Helper

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in M. E. Blatt Co. v. United States has fairly settled the conflict that has ranged for over twenty years between the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Board of Tax Appeals on one side, and the courts on the other. The commissioner's contention that improvements made by a lessee should be taxed as income to the lessor was denied, and by dictum the Court approved the reasoning of Judge Learned Hand in Hewitt Realty Co. v. Commissioner, wherein he said that the judicial concept of "income" did …

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Taxation - Social Security - Dissolution Of Corporation And Formation Of Partnership As Means Of Avoiding Tax, Arthur P. Boynton Apr 1939

Taxation - Social Security - Dissolution Of Corporation And Formation Of Partnership As Means Of Avoiding Tax, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

The O Company surrendered its corporate charter and began operating under an agreement purporting to establish a partnership relation between the former officers and employees whereby complete management including the power to employ, discharge and control the duties of its members was vested in a "board of control" elected by and subject to changes made by the majority in interest. Net profits and losses were shared in proportion to the respective interests. The firm could be dissolved only by a vote of the majority in interest and not by transfer of interest, death or resignation of a member. Advice was …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Deductions - Ordinary And Necessary Business Expenses - Commissions Paid To Senator For Securing Public Contracts, Ralph E. Helper Apr 1939

Taxation - Income Tax - Deductions - Ordinary And Necessary Business Expenses - Commissions Paid To Senator For Securing Public Contracts, Ralph E. Helper

Michigan Law Review

Taxpayer, a gravel company, employed as salesman a state senator, who obtained several contracts with the State Highway Commission of Louisiana. The Board, of Tax Appeals disallowed deductions for the commissions paid therefor, on the ground that the payments were for using personal influence with a governmental department, pursuant to a contract which is contrary to public policy. Held, in absence of evidence that the state senator agreed to or attempted to use any personal or political influence, the commissions paid to him are deductible business expenses. Alexandria Gravel Go., Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, (C. C. …

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Some Indicia Of Capital Transfers Under The Federal Income Tax Laws, Paul Harvey Mar 1939

Some Indicia Of Capital Transfers Under The Federal Income Tax Laws, Paul Harvey

Michigan Law Review

The fundamental difference between capital and income is recognized throughout the entire structure of the income tax law, and many decisions have distinguished between the two for the purpose of determining whether a given transaction comes within the meaning of the term "income" as used in the Sixteenth Amendment. But while recognizing the fundamental differences between capital and income, apparently the courts have been somewhat doubtful about advancing any broad, general statements by which specific transactions might be classified. While they have sometimes hesitated to call a specific item a capital transfer, they have, nevertheless, held numerous transactions involving the …

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Automobiles - Registration Of Title And Transfer - Effect On Ownership, Gerald M. Stevens Mar 1939

Automobiles - Registration Of Title And Transfer - Effect On Ownership, Gerald M. Stevens

Michigan Law Review

Who owns this automobile? is a question of frequent interest both to the state and to its citizens. Identification of it and its owner may be a leading clue to the solution of crime; its owner must often be apprehended as the first step toward punishment of one of the considerable list of offenses peculiar to the operation of motor vehicles; it constitutes an important item of taxable property. The private citizen is interested in its ownership to identify the proper defendant in his tort action; it is an obvious source of satisfaction of his claim against a debtor; or …

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Taxation - Income Taxes - Deduction For Uncompensated Damages To Non-Business Property, Anthony L. Dividio Mar 1939

Taxation - Income Taxes - Deduction For Uncompensated Damages To Non-Business Property, Anthony L. Dividio

Michigan Law Review

Several years prior to 1934, the taxpayer purchased a pleasure automobile for $1,825. Its value in 1934 was $225; after a collision its value was $190. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the taxpayer's contention that inasmuch as a taxpayer is not allowed an annual deduction for depreciation on non-business property, the original cost of such property constituted the basis for measuring the "uncompensated loss" allowed as a deduction for income tax purposes under section 113 (b) (1) (B) of the Revenue Act of 1934. Held, the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals should …

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