United States v. Dorothy C. Regan

HUFSTEDLER, Circuit Judge:

The Government appeals from a judgment in favor of the taxpayer in her suit for a refund of federal income taxes paid for the calendar years 1960-1962. The Government contends that the District Court erred in holding that the taxpayer, a member of a joint venture earning income from timber cutting contracts, could deduct from ordinary income her share of the venture’s costs of building access roads to the timber and that those costs were not capital expenses.

The facts are uncontroverted. The taxpayer and others formed a joint venture called Idapine Tenants in April…