first return
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 308 U.S. 389 - Haggar Co. v. Helvering · 1940Most cited · 596 citing opinions
First return' thus means a return for the first year in which the taxpayer exercises the privilege of fixing its capital stock value for tax purposes, and includes a timely amended return for that year. A timely amended return is as much a 'first return' for the purpose of fixing the capital stock value in contradistinction to returns for subsequent years, as is a single return filed by the taxpayer for the first tax year.
How often courts cite the cases defining “first return”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “first return” — 664 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1940–1941
A 'first return' means a return 'for the first year in which the taxpayer exercises the privilege of fixing its capital stock value for tax purposes, and includes a timely amended return for that year.