Burton-Sutton Oil Co. v. Commissioner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

261 federal appellate · 11 district · 2 state decisions

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

1. “* * * Depletion depends only upon production. It is the lessor’s, lessee’s or transferee’s “possibility of profit” from the use of his rights over production, “dependent solely upon the extraction and sale of the oil,” which marks an economic interest in the oil. * * *”

   9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Handelman v. United States · Coleman v. United States

2. “according to the peculiar conditions in each case * * *.”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Farwell v. Commissioner · Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Commissioner

3. ““But there is nothing in the statute or regulations which confines depletion allowances to those who are technically lessors. The concluding sentence of the section that Tn the case of leases the deductions allowed by this paragraph shall be equitably apportioned between the lessor and the lessee’ presupposes that the deductions may be allowed in other cases. The language of the statute is broad enough to provide, at least, for every case in which the taxpayer has acquired, by investment, any interest in the oil in place, and secures, by any form of legal relationship, income derived from the extraction of the oil, to which he must look for a return of his capital.” (Italics ours.)”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hamme v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue · Coleman v. United States