Court Opinion

ID: 9475856
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:40:19.404517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:58.850003
License: Public Domain

J. BLAINE ANDERSON, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
Under the compulsion of our decision in Carnation Co. v. Commissioner, 640 F.2d 1010 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 965, 102 S.Ct. 506, 70 L.Ed.2d 381 (1981), I concur only in the result reached in Judge Reinhardt’s exhaustive opinion.
In my view, the dissent of Judge Gerber of the Tax Court, 84 T.C. 948 (1985), joined by six of his colleagues, and the decision in Moline Properties, Inc. v. Commissioner, 319 U.S. 436, 63 S.Ct. 1132, 87 L.Ed. 1499 (1943), provide the correct reasoning and the correct result under the facts of this case.
It is conceded and undisputed by all that the arrangement is not a subterfuge, there is no illegality, and no intent to evade. In short, it looks like insurance, feels like insurance, and smells like insurance, but under the holding, it isn’t!
Clougherty should be entitled to deduct the premiums as a necessary business expense.