Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Otto C. Doering, Jr., and Lucy T. Doering

(dissenting);

The majority opinion rests on the language of the statute. “ ‘Collection of income’ would seem to have been the precise purpose for which the fees were paid.” But the attitude of assurance conveyed by this resort to literalism is considerably shaken when we examine the authorities. The majority opinion itself concedes that “income” “is not to be given a wholly literal reading,” citing cases in which § 212(1) was not applied to expenditures for the “collection of income.” Davis v. C. I. R., 151 F.2d 441 (8th Cir. 1945), cert. denied, 327 U.S. 783, 66 S.Ct. 682 (1946) ; Spreckels…