Elmhirst v. United States

GRAHAM, Judge.

The question here involved is whether section 202(a) 1 of the Revenue Act of 1918, 40 Stat. 1060, contemplates a sale of property by an executor and, if it does, whether the “gain” for taxation purposes is the “actual” gain between the purchase price and sale price, or between the appraised value at the death of the testator and the sale price. As section 202 is the only section dealing with taxation in connection with gains and losses from the sale of property, the case turns necessarily on the construction to be given to that section, as the act nowhere specifically provides…