# BERETTA v. COMMISSIONER

> United States Tax Court · November 20, 1942 · 1 T.C. 86

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4471205

## Case

- **Full name:** John K. Beretta v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Sallie Ward Beretta v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
- **Court:** United States Tax Court
- **Decided:** November 20, 1942
- **Citations:** 1 T.C. 86; 1942 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 33
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Murdock
- **Judges:** Only, Black, Murdock, Offer
- **Cited by:** 26 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4471205

## Opinion text

Murdock, /., dissenting: If a corporation reduces its capital stock by one-half, there is a complete cancellation or redemption of one-half of its stock, regardless of whether one-half of the stock certificates are canceled or whether the par value of each certificate is cut in two. The statute defines amounts distributed in partial liquidation as a distribution “in complete cancellation or redemption of a part of its stock.” Speaking of stock in a broader sense than mere certificates, there would be the same cancellation in each case. The word “stock,” as used in the statute, does not mean stock certificates, but even if it did, the stock certificates are completely canceled in part, that is, to the extent of one-half, where the par value is reduced 50 percent. Therefore, I dissent from the holding in this case that a reduction in par value, accompanied by a distribution, can not be a partial liquidation.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4471205. Public record. Not legal advice.