Aldrew Oil & Gas Co. v. Alexander

MeDERMOTT, Circuit Judge.

•These appeals present one question: In arriving at the earned surplus of an oil company for the purpose of the excess profits tax, should the actual depletion of the property at the beginning of the taxable year be taken into account, or only the depletion which the government allowed in assessing income taxes for the preceding years ?

The excess profits taxing statute was designed to reach profits which were in excess of a normal return on the moneys invested. The greater the investment, therefore, the less the tax. In defining, invested capital, Congress included…