United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

United States v. Cambridge Loan & Building Co., 278 U.S. 55 (1928)

United States v. Cambridge Loan & Building Co.

No. 46

Argued October 23, 24, 1928

Decided November 19, 1928

278 U.S. 55

Syllabus

1. A corporation which, by the law of its state, is a building and loan association, and the business of which is conducted in accordance with that law, is a "building and loan association" within the

Page 278 U. S. 56

meaning of §§ 231 of the Revenue Acts of 1918 and 1921, granting exemption from income tax if its operations be not so related to mere moneymaking as to constitute a gross abuse of the name. P. 278 U. S. 57.

2. The activities of the respondent in the way of receiving deposits on interest and making loans to persons not among its members (borrowers being required since the Act of 1921, supra, to purchase from one to five shares of its stock) did not disqualify it for the tax exemption. Id.

3. The Act of 1921, supra, in confining the exemption to building and loan associations "substantially all of the business of which is confined to making loan to members," did not limit loans to the amount of shares subscribed for. P. 278 U. S. 59.

4. An Act directing that certain taxes be refunded as "illegally collected" is an interpretation of the prior Act under which they were exacted, and, by implication, approves decisions of the federal courts holding the exaction unwarranted. P. 278 U. S. 58.

61 Ct.Cls. 631 affirmed.

Certiorari, 276 U.S. 614, to a judgment allowing recovery on a claim for money paid under duress as income taxes.