Opinion

Griffin v. Commissioner

  • 17 B.T.A. 255
  • 1929 BTA LEXIS 2331
Court
United States Board of Tax Appeals
Filed
Sep 13, 1929
Status
Published
Author
Sternhagen
On the bench
Sternhagen, Littleton
Cited by
7 cases

The opinion

Sternhagen,

dissenting: It is stipulated as a fact that the two buildings cost $7,500 and $7,000 respectively, and that they were de *257 molished in 1923 and 1924. The conclusion seems to me to follow that the buildings were gone and there was a loss of their cost. There is no room for equivocation as to whether the investment in the land included any value for the buildings or that the buildings were a worthless burden on the land, for whatever may have been the investment in the land, the buildings had their separate stipulated cost. If there were any dispute as to the propriety of an allocation of cost as between land and buildings or as to its amount, or as to whether the buildings had any cost, it might be that evidence on that subject would justify the view that no part of the cost should be attributed to the buildings or that the allocation was artificial and erroneous. In that case the entire investment would be in the site, and clearing it by demolishing the buildings might be an improvement instead of a loss. But here the cost of the buildings is stipulated and there is no warrant to shift it to the land, which, so far as appears, may not be able to bear it.

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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