surplus
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 275 U.S. 215 - Willcuts v. Milton Dairy Co. · 1927Most cited · 192 citing opinions
describes such part of the excess in the value of the corporate assets as is treated by the corporation as part of its permanent capital, usually carried on the books in a separate 'surplus account
How the Supreme Court has restated “surplus”
Each Supreme Court definition of “surplus,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “surplus”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “surplus” — 415 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 3 definitions, chronological · 1925–1931
- ORIGINAL
The surplus account represents the net assets of a corporation in excess of all liabilities including its capital stock. As used in section 31(b) the term undoubtedly means that part of the surplus which was derived from profits which, at the close of earlier annual accounting periods, were carried into the surplus account as undistributed profits.
assets in excess of what is deemed necessary to provide for the payment when due of the amounts specifically covered by the policies