District of Columbia v. Universal Computer Associates, Inc., Successor to Commercial Ventures, Inc.

WILKEY, Circuit Judge:

This case comes to us on petition by the District of Columbia for review of the decision of the District of Columbia Tax Court, holding that 50% of the purchase price of the respondent Universal’s computer and accompanying “software” is properly allocable to taxable “tangible personal property,” and 50% of the purchase price is to be ascribed to non-taxable intangible values. Whatever the complexities of computer science, we think the answer here is clear, in spite of the absence of light from guiding precedent and that the applicable statute 1 is vintage 1922.

I

For the…