26 U.S.C. § 533
Section 533 · Evidence of purpose to avoid income tax
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 22 court decisions — leading case Ivan Allen Company v. United States (1975)
Most recently applied in 288 F. Supp. 2d 730 - Otto Candies, LLC v. United States (June 2003)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
For purposes of section 532, the fact that the earnings and profits of a corporation are permitted to accumulate beyond the reasonable needs of the business shall be determinative of the purpose to avoid the income tax with respect to shareholders, unless the corporation by the preponderance of the evidence shall prove to the contrary.
The fact that any corporation is a mere holding or investment company shall be prima facie evidence of the purpose to avoid the income tax with respect to shareholders.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Cross References
Reasonable needs of the business, see section 537 of this title.