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Robertson v. United States | |
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Argued March 31, 1952 Decided June 2, 1952 | |
Full case name | Robertson v. United States |
Citations | 343 U.S. 711 ( more ) 72 S. Ct. 994; 96 L. Ed. 1237; 1952 U.S. LEXIS 2809 |
Case history | |
Prior | Judgment for plaintiff, 93 F. Supp. 660 (D. Utah 1950); reversed, 190 F.2d 680 (10th Cir. 1951); cert. granted, 342 U.S. 896(1951). |
Holding | |
That cash contest prizes are taxable, and attributable to the most-recent 36 months ending with the close of the year in which it was received | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Douglas, joined by Black, Reed, Burton, Clark, Minton |
Dissent | Jackson |
Frankfurter took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Laws applied | |
Internal Revenue Code |
Robertson v. United States, 343 U.S. 711 (1952), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that cash contest prizes are taxable, and attributable to the most-recent thirty-six months ending with the close of the year in which it was received. [1]
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The facts of the case involve American composer Leroy Robertson entering a previously composed symphony, Trilogy, into a 1947 contest for musical compositions. Robertson won $25,000, claimed the prize on his income taxes as income attributable to the three years he wrote it (1937 through 1939), and thereafter claimed a refund that treated his winnings as a gift.
Leroy Robertson was an American composer and music educator.
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