People Ex Rel. Clark v. Gilchrist

The Singer Manufacturing Company capitalized its surplus in December, 1920, and declared a stock dividend. By force of that declaration, a dividend of 10,642 shares was received by the trustees under the will of Alfred Corning Clark, stockholders of record. Following the rule in Matter of Osborne (209 N. Y. 450) the trustees paid the shares to the appellant, a beneficiary of the trust. The question is whether the dividend' should be added to the annual tax return as part of the income of the year.

The Income Tax Law of New York (Cons. Laws. ch. 60) is framed upon the model of the Federal…