Podell v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
55 T.C. 429 (1970)
Facts
Attorney Hyman Podell (plaintiff) and real estate operator Cain Young orally agreed to buy, renovate, and resell residential buildings in Brooklyn together. Both contributed property, money, or services and intended the project to make a profit. Young had managerial control and discretion over the day-to-day activities, but Podell approved the steps Young took by continuing to fund the project. The men agreed to share any resulting profits or losses equally. Podell and his wife (plaintiff) listed Podell’s half of the proceeds as capital gains on their joint tax return. The tax commissioner (defendant) disagreed and taxed the profits as ordinary income, arguing that the oral agreements established a partnership or joint venture to operate a business reselling buildings for profit. Podell petitioned the tax court to classify the profits as capital gains, claiming he wanted to help rehabilitate Brooklyn slums, not just make money.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Quealy, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 707,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,500 briefs, keyed to 983 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.