The opinion
Steknhagen,
dissenting: In my opinion, the decision should be for the respondent on the first point. I can not see how the purchase by a corporation of its own stock and its subsequent transfer can be an expense either paid or incurred. The only outlay by the corporation was the purchase price of some outstanding stock. This was not an expense. The resale or reissuance of the stock for less than the purchase price involved no loss, Simmons & Hammond Mfg. Co., 1 B. T. A. 803, and since it carried with it no further outlay or liability, it seems to me there was no expense to deduct. The employees bought at a cheap price, but so far as the corporation was concerned there was simply a change in the personnel of its stockholders. The corporation avoided an expense by giving the employee at an advantageous price an opportunity of sharing in future earnings or liquidation.