Gregory v. Helvering’s Empirical Analysis
293 U.S. 465 · 1935
Citation profile
1,936 federal appellate · 124 district · 143 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 4,709 later decisions (80 by the Supreme Court) — most recently February 2026 · most notably Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Court Holding Co (1945), Commissioner v. Tower (1946)
1,936 federal appellate · 124 district · 143 state decisions — followed in 24 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedHelvering v. Gregory (from Second Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on United States v. Isham · Superior Oil Co v. State of Mississippi Knox · Helvering v. Gregory · Jones v. Helvering
Cited together with Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Court Holding Co · Knetsch v. United States · Higgins v. Smith · Commissioner v. Tower · Frank Lyon Co. v. United States
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 4,709 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The legal right of a taxpayer to decrease the amount of what otherwise would be his taxes, or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted.”
146 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“in pursuance of a plan of reorganization”
5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Recognition of Gain or Loss (a) General rule. Upon the sale or exchange of property the entire amount of the gain or loss determined under section 111, shall be recognized, except as hereinafter provided in this section. (b) Exchanges solely in kind — * * * (3) Stock for stock on reorganization. No gain or loss shall be recognized if stock or securities in a corporation a party to a reorganization are, in pursuance of the plan of reorganization, exchanged solely for stock or securities in such corporation or in another corporation a party to the reorganization. (4) Same — Gain of corporation. No gain or loss shall be recognized if a corporation a party to a reorganization exchanges property, in pursuance of the plan of reorganization, solely for stock or securities in another corporation a party to the reorganization. * * * (i) Definition of reorganization. As used in this section and sections 113 and 115— (1) The term “reorganization” means (A) a merger or consolidation (including the acquisition by one corporation of at least a majority of the voting stock and at least a majority of the total number of shares of all other classes of stock of another corporation, or substantially all the properties of another corporation), or (B) a transfer by a corporation of all or a part of its assets to another corporation if immediately after the transfer the transferor or its stockholders or both are in control of the corporation to which the assets are transferred, or (C) a recapitali”
4 later decisions 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.