Commissioner v. Wilcox

Opinion of the Court by

Mr. Justice Murphy,

announced by Mr. Justice Rutledge.

The sole issue here is whether embezzled money constitutes taxable income to the embezzler under § 22 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code.1

The facts are stipulated. The taxpayer was employed as a bookkeeper by a transfer and warehouse company in Reno, Nevada, from 1937 to 1942. He was paid his salary promptly each month when due, it not being the custom to allow him to draw his salary in advance. In June, 1942, the company’s books were audited and it was discovered for the first time that the taxpayer had converted…