Brown v. Commissioner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 14 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(3) The payor shall treat the advanced royalties paid or accrued in connection with mineral property as deductions from gross income for the year the mineral product, in respect of which the advanced royalties were paid or accrued, is sold. For purposes of the preceding sentence, in the case of mineral sold before production the mineral product is considered to be sold when the mineral is produced (i.e., when a mineral product first exists). However, in the case of advanced mineral royalties paid or accrued in connection with mineral property as a result of a minimum royalty provision, the payor, at his option, may instead treat the advanced royalties as deductions from gross income for the year in which the advanced royalties are paid or accrued. See section 446 (relating to general rule for methods of accounting) and the regulations thereunder. For purposes of this paragraph, a minimum royalty provision requires that a substantially uniform amount of royalties be paid at least annually either over the life of the lease or for a period of at least 20 years, in the absence of mineral production requiring payment of aggregate royalties in a greater amount.”

   6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Howe v. Commissioner · Heitzman v. Commissioner

2. “We can discern no reason for petitioner’s stating that $6,000 is to be paid each year for the life of the lease and then give a note due in the 10th year for those same amounts other than that petitioner did not want to be liable for payment during the term of the lease. Without such liability, there can be no enforceable requirement to pay, and hence, no minimum royalty provision.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Heitzman v. Commissioner · Charles J. Heitzman v. Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service

3. “It is not enough simply to say that because the note is non-recourse, any yearly payment is not required. Rather, the inquiry should be whether the failure to make a specified annual payment can result in the loss of all lease rights within the one year period.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Irom v. Commissioner · Heitzman v. Commissioner