Ehlers v. Vinal’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate ·

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

1. “We would be forced to disregard the obvious reality of a substantial discrepancy between actual income and reported income if the net worth method of reconstructing income were not allowed to be used until the books of the taxpayer were proven inadequate. One of the most important and useful tools in the hands of the Government in the enforcement of our revenue laws would be obviated in a great many cases if such were the rule. To say the Government cannot prove $100,000 of the reconstructed income by net worth in comparison to a $5,000 reported income merely because the taxpayer's books don't reveal the reason for the discrepancy does not make good sense in the eyes of this Court.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ehlers v. Vinal

2. “The penalty statute is a harsh one and should be strictly construed. When there are additional factors which result in unreported income such as we find here, we believe that the Government should at least make the attempt to establish fraud in each year. The four year gap over which the increase in net worth has been evenly spread leaves entirely too much room for speculation, especially when one considers that the understatements not related to fraud but to honest mistakes will be so substantially affected by the penalty.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ehlers v. Vinal

3. “Since there appears to be no dispute as to the method of preparing the net worth statements and since we find that the evidence adequately supports the accuracy of the method used, we will not take time here for a detailed analysis of the ways and means of preparing the net worth statements. Suffice to say that we are satisfied that the statements are accurate within the limits that can be expected of this less than perfect method of approaching the reconstruction of income.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ehlers v. Vinal