Civil Procedure Keyed to Marcus
Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Sunnen
Facts
The Tax Court held that all royalties paid to the wife from 1937 to 1941 were income taxable to Defendant. The one exception was royalties of $4,881.35 paid in 1937 pursuant to a 1928 agreement. There was an earlier proceeding in 1935, when the Board of Tax Appeals held that payments made to the wife from 1929 through 1931 under the 1928 agreement were not taxable to Defendant. However, as to the second suit concerning the 1928 contract, the Tax Court held that it was bound by res judicata to follow the earlier 1935 decision. Therefore, the payments were not income, and not taxable to Defendant. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. It was affirmed, in that it determined that the use of res judicata was proper to exclude the payments made in 1937 pursuant to the 1928 agreement as income to the Defendant. However, the decision was reversed, in that the payments made to his wife from 1937 to 1941 were not income.
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