Encyclopedia Britannica v. Commissioner
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
685 F.2d 212 (1982)

- Written by Robert Taylor, JD
Facts
Encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica) (plaintiff) decided to publish a book entitled The Dictionary of Natural Sciences. Ordinarily, Britannica would research, author, edit, and publish the book, as it was in the business of doing so. However, Britannica was short-staffed and hired David-Stewart Publishing Company (David-Stewart) to prepare the manuscript under the supervision of Britannica’s editorial staff. Britannica paid David-Stewart an advance against the royalties that Britannica expected to receive on the book. On its federal tax return, Britannica deducted the advance payment to David-Stewart as a business expense. The federal tax commissioner (commissioner) (defendant) disallowed the deduction and assessed deficiencies against Britannica. Britannica petitioned the United States Tax Court for a redetermination. The tax court entered judgment in favor of Britannica, and the commissioner appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Posner, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.