Theodore D. Buhl, and Anastasia R. Buhl, His Wife v. A. M. Menninger, Director of Internal Revenue, Detroit, Michigan

Appellants filed an action against the District Director of Internal Revenue, claiming that his denial of their petition for refund of taxes theretofore illegally paid to his predecessor in office was arbitrary and capricious. Upon the dismissal of their complaint by the district court, they appealed.

The District Director’s predecessor, who collected the taxes, had died before the suit was commenced.

In Sage v. United States, 250 U.S. 33, 39 S.Ct. 415, 63 L.Ed. 828, it was held that a suit against a Collector is personal; and that, at the time judgment is entered, the United States is a…