Opinion

Tobin v. Commissioner

  • 17 B.T.A. 1261
  • 1929 BTA LEXIS 2158
Court
United States Board of Tax Appeals
Filed
Nov 6, 1929
Status
Published
Author
Murdock
On the bench
Murdock
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 66.0%

The opinion

*1262 OPINION.

Murdock:

The petitioner contends that he was an employee of the State of New York, and that therefore his salary received as such employee was not subject to Federal income tax. For a history of the provisions of the various revenue acts relating to the taxability of the compensation of state employees, see George W. Fuller, 9 B. T. A. 708. It will be noted that the petitioner was engaged to do certain routine work for the commission. He was not to perform any specific task or to accomplish any definite result. Rather, he was to do whatever work was assigned to him by the commission. His work was continuous and in a sense was permanent. Clearly, he was subject to the control of the commission, and although he *1263 was to use his skill in performing the various duties assigned to him, under the circumstances we hold that he was an employee of the State and not an independent contractor, and therefore, the salary which he received from the State is not subject to Federal income tax because to tax such income would be contrary to the law that the Federal Government may not tax the instrumentalities of a State. John E. Matthews, 8 B. T. A. 209; affirmed in principle, 29 Fed. (2d) 892; B. F. Martin, 12 B. T. A. 267; W. B. Mathews, 13 B. T. A. 1133; F. M. Livezey, 15 B. T. A. 806. There is no deficiency.

Judgment will be entered for the petitioner.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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