Franklin v. Commissioner
United States Board of Tax Appeals
From 400 shares received in a recapitalization for 80 shares bought in several lots at different times and at different costs, taxpayer sold 250 which he intended to identify with the latest purchase, so advised his secretary who carried out the sale, and on his books there was contemporaneous entry of a loss computed by deducting the entire sale price from the purchase price of the shares last bought.
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From 400 shares received in a recapitalization for 80 shares bought in several lots at different times and at different costs, taxpayer sold 250 which he intended to identify with the latest purchase, so advised his secretary who carried out the sale, and on his books there was contemporaneous entry of a loss computed by deducting the entire sale price from the purchase price of the shares last bought. Held, the shares sold were identified with those last bought and the first in, first out rule is not applicable.
1Opinion of the Court
*472OPINION.
Steenhagen :
The Commissioner held that the shares sold were not susceptible of identification with any bought at a particular price, and that the first in, first out rule must therefore be used so as to use up first the earliest cost of $5,875, then the next cost of $2,403.83, thus leaving only the remainder to be applied against the last purchase of $43,250. The petitioner says that the shares sold could be identified with those last bought and that he did enough to establish such identity. Short of matching up certificates, which under the circumstances would have been an…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Helvering v. RankinSupreme Court of the United States · 1935
3Cited by2 opinions
- Hitchcock v. United StatesDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan · 1940
- Franklin v. CommissionerUnited States Board of Tax Appeals · 1938