Eckert v. Burnet

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue determined that there was a deficit of $3,378.89 in the petitioner’s income tax for the year 1925 under the Revenue Act of 1924. The petitioner claimed a deduction from income of $22,400 as a bad debt. The deduction was disallowed by the Commissioner, by the Board of Tax Appeals and, in review, by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 42 F. (2d) 158. A writ of certiorari was allowed by this Court.

The petitioner’s tax return was on the cash basis. The facts of the transaction concerned were that the petitioner and his partner were joint…