Court Opinion

ID: 4497056
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2020-01-23 18:15:13.768921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:04:04.306688
License: Public Domain

Leech,
dissenting: The respondent admittedly allowed deductions of commissions, similar to those now contested, in his determination of the present deficiencies. He asks for no increased deficiencies because of error in that action. But if that was right, it would seem so, only, if the petitioning bank, as trustee of each of the two trusts, was carrying on business during the taxable year. However, respondent disallows the deduction of similar additional commissions which are now in controversy, because, he says, the bank, as such trustee, was not carrying on business. In my judgment, his position is wholly inconsistent. Either the petitioning bank, as trustee for these trusts, was carrying on business during the taxable year, or it was not. If it was, not only those commissions, the deduction of which was allowed by the respondent, are deductible, but the contested additional commissions are likewise deductible. I think the bank, as such trustee, was more than a passive conservator of investments and was carrying on business during the taxable year. The record, to me, clearly establishes that fact. In my opinion, the additional commissions, now in dispute, are deductible as well as those the deduction of which respondent has allowed and is not now contesting.
Arundeul and Tyson agree with this dissent.