Abbott, Proctor & Paine v. The United States

My major difference with the Trial Commissioner’s thorough opinion is over the status and effect of the two Treasury Regulations which I believe dispositive and which the court, as I understand the case, must nullify. One regulation relates to the coverage of the tax (Section 4252(f)) and the other to the “public press” exemption (Section 4253(b)). Both, as I appraise them, are adverse to the taxpayers’ position, and of course both must be upheld if they are reasonable interpretations of the statute. We are not free to by-pass valid Treasury Regulations. Udall v. Tallman, 85 S.Ct. 792, pp.…