United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Burnet v. Thompson Oil & Gas Co., 283 U.S. 301 (1931)

Burnet v. Thompson Oil & Gas Company

No. 288

Argued March 16, 17, 1931

Decided April 13, 1931

283 U.S. 301

Syllabus

Section 234(a)(9) of the Revenue Act of 1918 provide that in computing the net income of a corporation from oil mining properties, there shall be deducted a reasonable allowance for depletion based upon cost, and that, in case of such properties acquired before March 1, 1913, the fair market value of the property on that date shall be taken in lieu of cost up to that date.

Held that, in determining for the taxable year the capital value recoverable through depletion allowance, there should be deducted from the March 1, 1913, value of the property the amount of depletion actually sustained in intervening years, even though the deductions allowed for depletion in those years, under the Acts then in force, were less than the actual depletion. P. 283 U. S. 304.

40 F.2d 493 reversed.

Certiorari, 282 U.S. 823, to review a judgment reversing a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals, 15 B.T.A. 993, which sustained a determination of income tax deficiency.