United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Kornhauser v. United States, 276 U.S. 145 (1928)

Kornhauser v. United States

No. 162

Submitted January 12, 1928

Decided February 20, 1928

276 U.S. 145

Syllabus

Claimant successfully defended an accounting suit brought by his former law partner respecting shares of stock which claimant had received for professional services, performed by him, as the partner alleged, during the existence of the partnership, or, as claimant maintained, after its termination. Held that, in computing claimant's net income under the Revenue Act of 1918, the attorney's fees paid by him in defense of the suit were deductible from gross income not as a loss under § 214(a)(4), but as an "ordinary and necessary expense" incurred in carrying on a business, under § 214(a)(1); that it was not within § 215, forbidding deduction of "personal, living, or family expenses." P. 276 U. S. 152.

62 Ct.Cls. 647 reversed.

Page 276 U. S. 146

Certiorari, 273 U.S. 692, to review a judgment of the Court of Claims denying a claim for an amount paid under an increased income tax assessment.

Page 276 U. S. 151