Lewis v. Commissioner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

31 federal appellate · 1 district ·

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 64 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(a) An expense may be deducted under section 212 only if — • (1) It has been paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year (i) for the production or collection of income which, if and when realized, will be required to be included in income for Federal income tax purposes, or (ii) for the management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for the production of such income, or (iii) in connection with the determination, collection, or refund of any tax; and (2) It is an ordinary and necessary expense for any of the purposes stated in sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph. (b) The term “income” for the purpose of section 212 includes not merely income of the taxable year but also income which the taxpayer has realized in a prior taxable year or may realize in subsequent taxable years; and is not confined to recurring income but applies as well to gains from the disposition of property. For example, if defaulted bonds, the interest from which if received would be includible in income, are purchased with the expectation of realizing capital gain on their resale, even though no current yield thereon is anticipated, ordinary and necessary expenses thereafter paid or incurred in connection with such bonds are deductible. Similarly, ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in the management, conservation, or maintenance of a building devoted to rental purposes are deductible notwithstanding that there is actually no' income therefrom in the taxable year, and r”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Neill v. Commissioner · Suter v. United States

2. ““(1) Personal, living, or family expenses, except extraordinary medical expenses deductible under section 23 (x); * * *"”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Commissioner v. Shapiro · Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Michael Shapiro and Rae Shapiro

3. “Legal expenses do not become deductible merely because they are paid for services which relieve a taxpayer of liability. That argument would carry us too far. It would mean that the expense of defending almost any claim would be deductible by a taxpayer on the ground that such defense was made to help him keep clear of liens whatever income-producing property he might have.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Davis v. United States