United States v. International Building Co. (345 U.S. 502)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 4, 1953 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 345 U.S. 502 · 73 S. Ct. 807
- Docket
- No. 508
- Argued
- April 8, 1953
- Decided
- May 4, 1953
- Term
- October Term 1952
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Douglas
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Vinson, Justice Black, Justice Reed, Justice Frankfurter, Justice Douglas (wrote), Justice R. H. Jackson, Justice Burton, Justice Clark, Justice Minton
Opinion excerpt
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court. Respondent, a Missouri corporation, owns a leasehold of a plot of ground together with an office building erected on it. In 1942 the Commissioner assessed deficiencies against respondent for the taxable years 1933, 1938, and 1939, determining that it had claimed an excessive value as its basis for depreciating the property. These deficiencies were predicated on a basis of $385,000 amortized over the life of the lease. Respondent, who claimed a base of $860,000 amortized over a shorter period, filed petitions for review with the Tax Court. Meanwhile respondent filed a petition under ch. X of the Bankruptcy Act which ended in a confirmed plan of reorganization. Although the Collector filed proof of claim for the deficiencies in those proceedings, he later withdrew the claim under a stipulation that the withdrawal was "without prejudice” and did not constitute a determination of or prejudice the rights of the United States to any taxes with respect to any year other than those involved in the claim. Shortly thereafter respondent and the Commissioner filed stipulations in the pending Tax Court proceedings stating that "there is no deficiency in Federal income tax due” from respondent for the taxable years in question, that the tax liability for each of the years was nil, and that the jeopardy assessment was abated. The Tax…
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