Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Commissioner

The question in this case is whether petitioner, a mutual life insurance company, was entitled to deduct from its gross income for 1933 “excess interest dividends” paid within that year. The deduction was authorized if the amounts were “interest” paid on “indebtedness” 1 within the meaning of § 203 (a) (8) of the Revenue Act of 1932, 47 Stat. 169, 225. The Tax Court denied the deduction. 44 B. T. A. 293. The Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. 137 F. 2d 623. The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because the decision below and Penn Mutual Life Ins. Co. v.…