Southern Pac Co v. Lowe’s Empirical Analysis
247 U.S. 330 · 1918
Citation profile
186 federal appellate · 39 district · 42 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 505 later decisions (69 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2015 · most notably New Colonial Ice Co. v. Helvering (1934), Eisner v. Macomber (1920)
186 federal appellate · 39 district · 42 state decisions — followed in 11 states
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.
Relationships
Relies on Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad · Towne v. Eisner · Doyle v. Mitchell Bros. · Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. · Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 505 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““While the two companies were separate legal entities, yet in fact and for all practical purposes they were merged, the former being but a part of tbe latter, acting merely as its agent and subject in all things to its proper direction and control. And, besides, tbe funds represented by tbe dividends were in tbe actual possession and control of tbe Southern Pacific as well before as after tbe declaration of tbe dividends. Tbe fact that the books were kept in accordance with tbe provisions of the lease, so that these funds appeared upon tbe accounts as an indebtedness of tbe lessee to tbe lessor, cannot be controlling, in view of tbe practical identity between lessor and lessee.””
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“We must reject in this case, as we have rejected in cases arising under the Corporation Excise Tax Act of 1909, the broad contention submitted in behalf of the government that all receipts — everything that comes in — are income within the proper definition of the term `gross income,' and that the entire proceeds of the conversion of capital assets, in whatever form and under whatever circumstances accomplished, should be treated as gross income.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“‘•But the nnymoiii was only constructive, being carried into effect by bookkeeping entries which simply reduced the apparent surplus of the Central Pacific and reduced the apparent indebtedness oi! the Southern Pacific to the Central Pacific by precisely the amount of the dividends. The question is whether the dividends received under these circumstances and in tins manner by the Southern Pacific Company were taxable as income of that company under the Income Tax Act of 1913.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.