Dick v. Commissioner

McDERMOTT, Circuit Judge.

Appellant, a full-blood Quapaw Indian, inherited land in 1900. The land was inalienable because of restrictions imposed by statute and in the patent, and exempt from taxation, until September 26, 1921. United States v. Noble, 237 U. S. 74, 35 S. Ct. 532, 59 L. Ed. 844. Appellant sold the land in May, 1931, for $50,000. Its March 1, 1913 value was $5,000. Ore was discovered in 1915, and on September 26, 1921, when the restrictions expired, the land was worth $48,780.53. The Commissioner ruled that the taxable profit on the 1931 sale was the difference between the…