People ex rel. Bush v. Gilchrist

Headnote

Tax — income tax — when deduction, for loss through taking of real property by government for war purposes properly disallowed.

Matter of Bush v. Law, 206 App. Div. 800 , affirmed.

Appeal from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered

March 28, 1924, which confirmed, on certiorari, a determination of the State Tax Commission disallowing a deduction for alleged loss and assessing the relator under the Income Tax Law (L. 1919, ch. 627). Real property-owned by relator was seized by the government for war purposes in 1918. In 1919 an award was made in excess of the original cost to relator but less than the appraised value of the property. Relator claimed a deduction in his income tax return for 1919 for the difference between the appraised value and the amount received. The Tax Commission contended that the determination was proper for two reasons: First, that the loss claimed by relator was not a loss sustained within the meaning of the taxing act, being article 16 of the Tax Law of New York State; and, second, that if there was any loss it occurred in 1918 and prior to the inception of the said law, and, therefore, was not a proper deduction from income accruing subsequent to that date.