Arkansas Best Corp. v. Commissioner

I must dissent to section II of the Court’s opinion. The majority opinion scorns Corn Products and its progeny as fostering uncertainty in taxpayers’ motivations in purchasing capital stock, favoring instead a return to the literal meaning of section 1221. The majority therefore falls in line with those critical of all Corn Products has wrought.

It appears to me, however, that Corn Products was merely an attempt to divine congressional intent. As such, it is a compelling rejoinder to those who believe “that legislative draftsmen and the tax-writing committees of the Congress are the most…