White v. United States’s Empirical Analysis
305 U.S. 281 · 1938
Citation profile
348 federal appellate · 28 district · 32 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 690 later decisions (17 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2020 · most notably Helvering v. Hammel (1941), Helvering v. Northwest Steel Rolling Mills, Inc. (1940)
348 federal appellate · 28 district · 32 state decisions — followed in 10 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 New Colonial Ice Co. v. Helvering · Hellmich v. Hellman · Helvering v. Twin Bell Oil Syndicate · Helvering v. Chester N. Weaver 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 690 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““We are not impressed by the argument that, as the question here decided is doubtful, all doubts should be resolved in favor of the taxpayer. It is the function and duty of courts to resolve doubts. We know of no reason why that function should be abdicated in a tax case more than in any other where the rights of suitors turn on the construction of a statute and it is our duty to decide what that construction fairly should be. * * Moreover, every deduction from gross income is allowed as a matter of legislative grace, and ‘only as there is clear provision therefor can any particular deduction be allowed. * * * A taxpayer seeking a deduction must be able to point to an applicable statute and show that he comes within its terms.’ New Colon ial Ice Co. v. Helvering, 292 U.S. 435 , 440, 54 S.Ct. 788 , 790, 78 L.Ed. 1348 .””
13 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““§ 23. Deductions from Gross Income “In computing net income there shall be allowed as deductions: “(a) Expenses. All the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business, including * * * payments required to be made as a condition to the continued use or possession, for purposes of the trade or business, of property to which the taxpayer has not taken or is not taking title or in which he has no equity.””
3 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.