Bonwit Teller & Co. v. Commissioner

1. Probable useful life of stone buildings determined upon the evidence, for purpose of computing deduction for exhaustion and profit from sale to be not in excess of 10 years. 2. A brokerage fee, paid by a lessee holding under a long-term lease at a fixed annual rental to secure a subtenant from whom it receives a substantially larger rental, resulting in a regular annual gain throughout the term, is an investment of capital in a contract yielding income and not an ordinary and necessary expense of carrying on a trade or business, and hence may not be deducted from the income of the initial…