Opinion

Brown v. Commissioner

  • 18 B.T.A. 859
  • 1930 BTA LEXIS 2577
Court
United States Board of Tax Appeals
Filed
Jan 20, 1930
Status
Published
Author
Mttrdock
On the bench
Love, McMahon, Mttrdock, Sternhagen, Green, Agree
Cited by
8 cases

Reversed on other grounds by Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Brown, 54 F.2d 563 (1931)

The opinion

MttRdock,

dissenting: I dissent from that part of the opinion in this case which holds that Jacob F. Brown sustained a loss of the cost of certain Japanese bonds. Such facts as are before us distinguish this case from the White Dental case relied upon by the petitioner. The petitioner was the creditor of Japan which, like our country, had been at war with Germany. A.t the end of 1918 when the loss was claimed to have been sustained the war was over. The bonds were payable in English sterling. Germany had sequestered the bonds but had never made any effort to do anything more than merely hold them. We have not been told of the terms or conditions of the bonds or of the attitude of Japan toward such bondholders as the petitioner. The Commissioner has held that the petitioner did not sustain any loss in the year 1918. On the showing made by the *871 petitioner I am not convinced tbat the Commissioner erred. Nor do I believe that the petitioner has shown that he was helpless to secure the return of his property. If, as a practical matter, he was helpless to secure the return of his property, he should have offered proof of such fact. Proof that the bonds were sequestered is not enough.

McMahon agrees with this dissent.

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.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.