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1 B.T.A. 576

Richardson v. Commissioner

United States Board of Tax Appeals

Decided February 10, 1925

United States Board of Tax Appeals · decided 1925-02-10

Under Section 214(a)(6) of the Revenue Act of 1921 a deductible loss caused by storms must be of such a character that it can be definitely ascertained and measured in terms of money values. The evidence presented in this appeal held insufficient to support a deduction from gross income growing out of damage to a natural woodland caused by an ice storm.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1925-02-10

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently September 1982

1 district ·

201925193019401950196019701980decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1OPINION.

Trussell :

¶2This appeal is based on a disallowance by the Commissioner of an alleged loss caused by storm which had been claimed *578under section 214 (a) (6) of the Revenue Act of 1921, the relevant portion of which reads as follows:

Losses sustained during the taxable year of property not connected with the trade or business … if arising from fires, storms, shipwreck, or other casualty, or from theft, and if not compensated for by insurance or otherwise.

¶3In support of her claim the taxpayer testified:

The existence of large shade trees makes the residential property much more desirable and does not necessitate the planting of evergreens and deciduous trees. It also acts as a protection from.passers-by on the roads, and without them a country place for residential purposes would be much less attractive. The existence of shade trees greatly enhances the value of the residence.
During two continuous days of freezing, with a damp drizzle, all trees, shrubs, and even grasses, were covered with a thick coating of ice, in some eases nearly three-quarters of an inch thick, so heavily weighing the trees that practically not one shrub or tree on my property was left without mutilation. As a result of a high wind one-third of the trees in all the 60 acres of woodland was broken off, and in many cases the whole tree was felled to the ground.

¶4She also testified that the value of her estate prior to the storm was $197,000 and after the storm $194,000.

¶5The witness, Walter Ohanning, in his deposition qualified as an experienced dealer in real estate and as an appraiser of property values in the vicinity of the taxpayer’s property, and supported the views of the taxpayer with reference to the values of her property both before and after the storm.

¶6It does not appear, however, that any effort was made by the taxpayer to make any detailed account or estimate of the damage alleged to have been caused by the storm. The taxpayer owned an estate upon which there was a natural woodland of approximately 60 acres which added much to the beauty of the place, making it more desirable as a country residence, and after the storm many of the trees of natural growth were mutilated and some of them entirely destroyed. But there is no proof as to the quantity of the mutilation and no proof of the number of trees which existed before the storm and the number existing after the storm.

¶7We may well agree with the taxpayer that immediately following the storm and for some time thereafter the natural beauty of her country residence had been marred, but the amount of the damage done, as shown in the record, is too uncertain and indefinite to form a basis for a deduction from gross income. The expense .of cleaning up and removing the debris caused by the storm has been allowed and for the time being that is the only definitely known measure of damages. If the taxpayer retains the ownership of her property until nature shall have had the opportunity to repair the woodland, she will probably suffer no other money damages. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the action of the Commissioner in disallowing the deduction must be sustained.

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